Former Trump aide Steve Bannon appears to have lost it, making all sorts of wild claims during a comprehensive interview with BBC News.
BBC News aired an interview with former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon on Wednesday.
Bannon, who also worked as the former executive chairman of Breitbart News, made all sorts of wild claims – such as stating that slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. would have been proud of Trump.
“If you look at the policies of Donald Trump, anybody – Martin Luther King – would be proud of him, of what he’s done for the black and Hispanic community for jobs,” he stated.
BBC News host Emily Maitlis challenged his remark asking: “You think Martin Luther King would be proud of Donald Trump?”
“You don’t think Martin Luther King would sit there and go: yes, you’re putting young black men and women to work?” Bannon responded, adding: “The lowest unemployment we’ve had in history, and wages are starting to rise among the working class, and you finally stop the illegal alien labor force that’s coming in and competing with them every day, and destroying the schools and destroying the healthcare? Absolutely.”
Reporting on the interview, Newsweek noted that, although the numbers may show improvement in employment rates for blacks and Hispanics, the rate of improvement has not altered during Trump’s administration.
The unemployment rate for black people hit a record-low 6.6 percent in April 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hispanic unemployment was at its record-low rate of 4.8 percent in the same month.
But both rates have been in steady decline since peaking around 2011, and that fall has not accelerated alongside Trump’s presidency, which is partly defined by its vaunted crackdown on illegal immigration.
“Dems did nothing for you but get your vote!” Trump tweeted in January, noting the falling unemployment rates for black and hispanic people.
Bernice King, youngest child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, weighed in as well in a multi-part tweet in which she accused Bannon of “co-opting” her father’s legacy to further is program of nationalist (racist) politics.
- #SteveBannon has dangerously and erroneously co-opted my father’s name, work and words. Bannon’s assertion that my father, #MLK, would be proud of Donald Trump wholly ignores Daddy’s commitment to people of all races, nationalities, etc. being treated with dignity and respect.
- My father’s concerns were not sectional, but global. He was an activist for the civil rights of Black people in America, but he was also an activist for human rights. #MLK
- Further, he would not refer to people as “illegal aliens.” The term is degrading and does not reflect his belief that we are all a part of the human family. #MLK
- In addition, he would never pit one group against another in the struggle for justice, as Bannon attempts to use him to do in discussing those he termed as “illegal aliens” and Black people. #MLK
- Bannon’s comments are like feeding someone empty calories, in that they don’t convey a comprehensive view of #MLK as a global humanitarian who cared about the well-being of all people.
- My father would be extremely disturbed by the climate created by leaders, who have emboldened people to easily express and demonstrate cruelty, predominantly toward people of color and immigrants. #MLK
- Finally, #MLK would be proud of a livable wage for all and not merely a low unemployment rate. #PoorPeoplesCampaign
You can watch Bannon’s remarks about MLK in the clip below, followed by the full interview.
Martin Luther King "would be proud of" Donald Trump.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon insists @realdonaldtrump has done a lot for black and Hispanic people. Full IV tonight 22:30 @BBCTwo #newsnight pic.twitter.com/I1kAYS1jMH
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 23, 2018
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