*Rev. Al Sharpton is speaking out against rappers who love them some Donald Trump, despite his documented acts of racial discrimination and current litany of federal and state charges over trying to overturn the 2020 election.
The civil rights activist was a guest on MSNBC’s “The Reid Out,” with host Joy Reid on Tuesday, where the topic turned to “critical Trump theory”— where people believe the system is rigged against Trump.
While a number of rap artists have publicly backed the 2024 presidential candidate, Sharpton suggested they also remember Trump’s record on race.
“Let’s go to the 1990s when five young Black and Brown young men were falsely accused of raping a White woman in Central Park. It was Donald Trump that took out ads in the papers in New York saying they should get the death penalty,” he said.
“So if they want to cite how Blacks have been abused by the criminal justice system, cite the case where we marched and eventually it was proven these five young men — that Donald Trump called on to get the death penalty — were in fact innocent,” Sharpton added.
The activist and host of MSNBC’s “Politics Nation” was referring to the Central Park Five case, where five Black and Brown teens were wrongfully convicted of raping a white jogger. Before any of the five went to trial, Trump took out full-page newspaper ads calling for them to receive the death penalty.
“Let them come and tell the rappers and others that are being seduced by Trump what he did in his hometown to innocent Black men,” Sharpton told Reid. “They’re going back to the ‘30s because they can’t go back to New York where he discriminated against Black housing, and when he discriminated against these five young men and helped cause their long sentences that they were innocent of all along,” he added.
Watch below:
.@TheRevAl: “If they want to cite how Blacks have been abused by the criminal justice system, cite the case where we marched and eventually it was proven that these five young men that Donald Trump called on to get the death penalty, were in fact innocent.” #TheReidOut pic.twitter.com/3toDjeAGv4
— The ReidOut (@thereidout) August 29, 2023
Rappers who have expressed support for Trump include Lil Pump, who posted “FREETRUMP” on Instagram with both of their mugshots side-by-side. Buffalo rapper Benny the Butcher posted on X/Twitter: “I’m voting Trump 2024.” Kanye West has also been a vocal Trump supporter, and met with the real estate mogul in the White House.
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