Appearing as a guest on CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello, The Root's Jason Johnson made his latest attempt to tie Republicans to the KKK as he charged that Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon is a "white supremacist with ties to terrorist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan."
The recurring CNN guest, who has a history of making dubious claims of KKK ties to Republicans, went on to assert that Trump could be an "existential and physical threat" to minorities. Johnson: "This President could pose an existential and physical threat to press members, to members of minority communities. And we have to remember that, as we're laughing about him and thinking he's silly, he also could potentially be dangerous."
The liberal politics editor for The Root took his first swipe at the Trump administration as he and fellow guest and comedian Dean Obeidallah were discussing the issue of comedy in the aftermath of Trump's presidential victory. Johnson fretted:
There is nothing to laugh about when the President-elect has picked a white supremacist with ties to terrorist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan to be his senior advisor. I'm not laughing. In fact, people are afraid and concerned. And I think the fact that Dave Chapelle said, "Look, we're going to give him a chance if he gives us a chance," and 24 hours later, Donald Trump is attacking the press and putting Steve Bannon in that position, this is not something to laugh about. People need to be concerned, and people need to push back against this kind of presidency. If we laugh at it and we normalize it, there's a problem.
A bit later, he continued:
I think the protesters are just saying, "Look, we're going to be here, and you can't just walk on over us if you're elected," but I also think this: We've got to wait and see what these final numbers are on minority voters. The Washington Post did a story earlier this week. They think Trump's numbers with Latinos might be closer to 20. I think, if the exit polls were wrong all year because people thought Hillary was going to win and Trump ends up winning, we can't necessarily assume that these numbers are right.
He then added:
But I'll tell you this: I'm all for laughing, I'm all for having a good time, but this President could pose an existential and physical threat to press members, to members of minority communities. And we have to remember that, as we're laughing about him and thinking he's silly, he also could potentially be dangerous.
