In a chaotic interview with Jonathan Swan of Axios, President Donald Trump yet again asserted that he's done more for Black Americans than anyone.
Trump's claim came as he was responding to a question about the recently deceased civil rights icon, Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), whose funeral was last month.
Trump made headlines around the same time when he said that he had no intentions of visiting Lewis's body, which was lying in state in the Capitol rotunda.
In answering whether or not he was impressed with Congressman Lewis, Trump began praising his own civil rights record.
Watch below.
Trump tells @axios he “can't say one way or the other" whether John Lewis was impressive.
“He didn't come to my inauguration." (X2)
AND
Answering a questions about #JohnLewis, said “nobody has done more for black Americans than I have" 😳#TrumpIsANationalDisgrace pic.twitter.com/9Dqv0wAEtu
— WᴶEᴼBᴱB ✌🏼 (@thewebbix) August 4, 2020
Trump said:
"Again, nobody has done more for African Americans than I have. He should've come [to my inauguration]. I think he made a big mistake."
The President refused to say he was impressed at John Lewis's story. Lewis was beaten and arrested numerous times in his fight for Civil Rights, most notably on the Edmund Pettus Bridge when leading a march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery. He was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington and he served the city of Atlanta in Congress for decades.
The Reverend Al Sharpton appeared on MSNBC to respond to the moment in the Axios interview, telling viewers what Trump has really done for the Black community.
Watch below.
Addressing @realDonaldTrump's statement about him doing more for Blacks than anybody else because of Black unemployment rates before covid-19, and because of criminal justice reform efforts. Fake news! #TheLastWord @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/2IWDCKbbWU
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) August 5, 2020
Sharpton said to MSNBC's Ali Velshi:
"The biggest contribution that Donald Trump has done for Black Americans in my judgement is he has, in many ways, caused the greatest rise of Black unity I've seen in my lifetime. People that never walked together, stood together, marched together, and will vote together are together because of Donald Trump."
People largely agreed.
What @TheRevAl said. https://t.co/VbmJReROKf
— Freddi Brown (@freddibrown) August 5, 2020
‼️‼️ https://t.co/0rY53dhhtM
— courtneyrachael (@itsmect_love) August 5, 2020
This man trump is a lair. At this point I have to agree with his niece Mary Trump, he is dangerous. https://t.co/6BFhaNcnwP
— TherealIngaS (@IngaThereal) August 5, 2020
THIS WAS AMAZING !
XO @AliVelshi @TheRevAl https://t.co/sR4jxZYvSv
— Sherri Kuczeryk (@SherriKuczeryk) August 5, 2020
Sharpton was far from the only one to criticize Trump's comments.
Trump says he's “done more for the black community" than the Black Lives Matter movement. An appalling and completely unhinged lie. Next level.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) August 5, 2020
Yo Donald Trump really said, word for word, “nobody has done more for black Americans than I have."
Lmao
— 又 Skoonja Boonja (@biglikeBROLY) August 5, 2020
When asked about a champion of civil rights, Trump whined that Lewis didn't come to his stuff and that he (Trump) has done more for the black community than anybody. So when did hell freeze over? https://t.co/aj3f1CYEdc
— Jana Hubbs (@janahubbs) August 5, 2020
Trump literally said “There is no one who has done more for black people than me" ✌🏾💀 yeah somebody need to put him in check
— Chocolate Mocha 🍫😋 (@alauren_taylor) August 5, 2020
He's an idiot.
Trump claims he has done more for black community than any president since Lincoln https://t.co/t5P3LLX0jc
— Stan (@RYNEGADE1) August 5, 2020
On Wednesday morning, Trump repeated the claim on Fox & Friends, even musing that he'd done more for Black Americans than Abraham Lincoln, who's credited with ending slavery in the United States.
@winnieharlow/Instagram
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
