WATCH: Pres. Trump praises MLK, Frederick Douglass, and bemoans media coverage while discussing Black History Month. https://t.co/9Cz6jZCyaR
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) February 1, 2017
Twitter quickly slammed President Donald Trump Wednesday, Feb. 1, after he appeared to not be familiar with abolitionist Frederick Douglass while speaking about Black history to the media.
Trump praised the works and lives of MLK, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and others during a press conference before launching into sly remarks aimed at CNN.
“I am very proud now that we have a museum on the National Mall where people can learn about Rev. King, so many other things,” Trump tells the media. “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I noticed. Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and millions more Black Americans who made America what it is today. Big impact.”
Then, Trump spent the next few minutes criticizing the news organization.
“Darrell—I met Darrell [Scott] when he was defending me on television,” Trump says. “And the people that were on the other side of the argument didn’t have a chance, right? And Paris [Dennard] has done an amazing job in a very hostile CNN community. He’s all by himself. You’ll have seven people, and Paris. And I’ll take Paris over the seven. But I don’t watch CNN, so I don’t get to see you as much as I used to.”
The dedication, which came on the heels of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee announcement, was meant to usher in the beginning of Black History month, but it veered off into policy promises to fix “unsafe” Black communities. “We need safer communities and we’re going to do that with law enforcement,” he proclaims.
Twitter users noticed that Trump could not help himself from mentioning something that only affected him personally. Many questioned if he knew Douglass and what he accomplished.
https://twitter.com/skjpope/status/826850761623474176
https://twitter.com/annehelen/status/826816804316135424
https://twitter.com/rachel/status/826817170181062656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Shoot. Didn't he do that after naming Frederick Douglas to new Cabinet pos: Sec. of "the Blacks"? He's busy today.
— #LetsGo (@typicalcircle) February 1, 2017
how many black people do you see behind him when it's NOT Black History Month? He is disgusting.
— I love America (@imaworkingactor) February 1, 2017
.@NBCNightlyNews @NBCBLK @MSNBC Where was Pres Bannon for Black History Day? pic.twitter.com/hDJl5uWAMU
— mark lassiter (@Broadcastwins) February 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/RTKash/status/826833673659899904
when will he be authentic and in the moment. Every time I think I'm going to see a human side he throws digs @ media
— MommaBear (@KrystalWnek1) February 1, 2017
