This morning, Donald Trump hosted a breakfast at the White House to honor the beginning of Black History Month. (Let’s all just pause here one second.) Before the event commenced, Trump delivered opening remarks about what black history means to him, and the things he knows about various black people:
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Last month, we celebrated the life of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., whose incredible example is unique in American history. You read all about Dr. Martin Luther King a week ago when somebody said I took the statue out of my office. It turned out that that was fake news. Fake news. The statue is cherished, it’s one of the favorite things in the—and we have some good ones. We have Lincoln, and we have Jefferson, and we have Dr. Martin Luther King. But they said the statue, the bust of Martin Luther King, was taken out of the office. And it was never even touched. So I think it was a disgrace, but that’s the way the press is. Very unfortunate.I am very proud now that we have a museum on the National Mall where people can learn about Reverend King, so many other things.
Fredrick Douglass
Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I noticed.
Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks
Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and millions more black Americans who made America what it is today. Big impact.
Dr. Ben Carson
I’d go around with Ben to a lot of different places I wasn’t so familiar with. They’re incredible people. And I want to thank Ben Carson, who’s gonna be heading up HUD. That’s a big job. That’s a job that’s not only housing, but it’s mind and spirit. Right, Ben? And you understand, nobody’s gonna be better than Ben.
Paris Dennard
Paris 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. I don’t like watching fake news. But Fox has treated me very nice. Wherever Fox is, thank you.
Pastor Darrell Scott
Darrell—I met Darrell when he was defending me on television.
Omarosa Manigault
Omarosa’s actually a very nice person, nobody knows that. I don’t want to destroy her reputation but she’s a very good person, and she’s been helpful right from the beginning of the campaign, and I appreciate it. I really do. Very special.
A short time after the breakfast, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Trump’s Attorney General nomination of Jeff Sessions, who was denied a judgeship in 1986 in part after Coretta Scott King wrote that Sessions would have a “devastating effect on the progress we have made towards fulfilling my husband’s dream.”
[via Deadspin]
