Appearing as a guest on Thursday's CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin, PBS host Tavis Smiley claimed that GOP candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are "running segregated campaigns" as he asserted that they are "not campaigning to my community."
After repeating his claim that Trump has been a "racial arsonist," he declared that the Republican Party has been "self-sabotaging," and additionally attached to the GOP the words "anti-American," "Orwellian," and "Shakespearean."
Early on in the segment, the liberal PBS host made known that he was glad that Bernie Sanders challenged Hillary Clinton and pulled her to the left: "Number one, left to her own devices, she's too hawkish. Number two, left to her own devices, she's not progressive enough. And number three, I think Bernie Sanders has made her a better candidate."
Host Baldwin turned the subject to the Republicans, and, after declaring that he does not want either party to take black voters for granted so that both parties compete for them, he took aim at Republicans. Smiley:
It troubles me on the Republican side that they're not campaigning to all of America. Here's the question: Why should we consider you seriously to be President of these United States if you're only campaigning to a slice of America so that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz-
After Baldwin jumped in to inject, "What about going to Flint?" he continued: "Trump and Cruz are running segregated campaigns. They're not campaigning to the rest of us. How do I know that my vote matters to Donald Trump, that it matters to Ted Cruz? They haven't asked for it. They're not campaigning to my community or other communities."
The CNN host soon asked Smiley about his calling Trump a "racial arsonist," asking him to define what he means, with Smiley responding:
You go around setting racial fires everywhere you go, and that's what Donald Trump does -- anti-Muslim comments, anti-immigrant comments. It's not just being a racial arsonist. It's quite frankly anti-American. I have never seen a party that is so self-sabotaging as the Republican Party. It's Shakespearean, it's Orwellian, but it's also, as I said, anti-American.
He soon concluded: "They need to lay out an agenda that is not antithetical to the best interest of black people, and they ain't got there yet."
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Thursday, April 7, CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin:
BROOKE BALDWIN: Staying on the theme of politics here, joining me now, the author of the new book, 50 For Your Future: Lessons from Down the Road, here is PBS host Tavis Smiley. It is such an honor and pleasure to have you on. Thank you so much. Let's begin with, we were just talking to Wolf about the Democrats. Let me just begin there. This whole doubling down, again, same question, Bernie Sanders saying Hillary Clinton, despite her resume, is unqualified to be President of the United States. Do you agree with that?
TAVIS SMILEY, PBS HOST; I'm not sure I believe that she's unqualified to be President. Clearly, she's qualified to be. The question is if she ought to be the President. Is she addressing the issues that Nick Cannon was just rapping about in his video? Issues of poverty and income inequality and economic immobility.
Whether one likes or loathes Bernie Sanders, he's been abundantly clear about what he would do on those issues. And so I like the fact that Bernie has been in the race -- I said this a couple of years ago before he got in -- Secretary Clinton was a little upset when I made this comment publicly -- but I though she needed someone to challenge her from her left for three reasons.
Number one, left to her own devices, she's too hawkish. Number two, left to her own devices, she's not progressive enough. And number three, I think Bernie Sanders has made her a better candidate.
(...)
BALDWIN: On the Republicans, a month ago, USA Today, you wrote, "Black America could get on the Trump train." After all this crazy last couple of weeks on the campaign trail, do you stand by that?
SMILEY: First of all, when you write a piece, the editor, as you know, chooses the headline. It's all about click bait. That was not my headline, number one. But, having said that, the point I was making was that I don't like seeing black folks taken for granted by one party or ignored by another party. And in this election when conventional wisdom left the station before the train did, anything could happen. And I don't want Hillary Clinton or anybody else for that matter -- Bernie Sanders -- taking for granted the black vote. They ought to be competing for it. They ought to be competed over.Now, having said that, on the Republican side -- I made this point the other day somewhere -- it troubles me on the Republican side that they're not campaigning to all of America. Here's the question: Why should we consider you seriously to be President of these United States if you're only campaigning to a slice of America so that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz-
BALDWIN: What about going to Flint?
SMILEY: Trump and Cruz are running segregated campaigns. They're not campaigning to the rest of us. How do I know that my vote matters to Donald Trump, that it matters to Ted Cruz? They haven't asked for it. They're not campaigning to my community or other communities.
BALDWIN: So are you saying essentially to the Democratic Party, it is not in the bag that the black vote is going to go to you like obviously it did a couple of years ago for Barack Obama?
SMILEY: It ought not to be, number, and number two, anybody who thinks that the black turnout will be the same for Clinton that it was for Obama, put down the crack pipe. You're stuck on stupid if you think that Hillary, no matter how well she does, is going to pull the numbers he pulled. It's a historic election. I mean, you know that. The numbers are not going to be the same. So the black vote -- there ought to be a competition for it. And I'm not suggesting that Bernie is better than Hillary or the other way around.
BALDWIN: But what about on the Republican side? Do you see, I mean, I think it was -- was it last night? -- you called a "racial arsonist," you called Mr. Trump a "racial arsonist." First of all, can you define that for me?
SMILEY: Sure. You go around setting racial fires everywhere you go, and that's what Donald Trump does -- anti-Muslim comments, anti-immigrant comments. It's not just being a racial arsonist. It's quite frankly anti-American. I have never seen a party that is so self-sabotaging as the Republican Party. It's Shakespearean, it's Orwellian, but it's also, as I said, anti-American.
BALDWIN: Do you think, though, on your point about not having the Democratic Party take the black vote for granted, do you think African-Americans, come November, whether it's a Cruz or a Trump on the ticket for the Republicans -- or maybe Kasich, I don't know -- would they vote for either of them?
SMILEY: I think they'll vote their interest. And so if you're not going to campaign on the issues that matter to them, if they don't see themselves in your agenda, and if you don't make any overtures to them, heck no.
BALDWIN: What do they need to do to change that other than campaigning in communities-
SMILEY: They need to lay out an agenda that is not antithetical to the best interest of black people, and they ain't got there yet.
