During Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s New Day, co-host John Berman interviewed Florida Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, one of the President’s most vocal critics and he could not resist asking her to weigh in on President Trump’s reference to former White House employee Omarosa Manigault-Newman as a “dog.” Not surprisingly, Congresswoman Wilson had nothing kind to say about Trump.
After Berman asked for her reaction to President Trump’s latest comment about Omarosa, Wilson responded by saying “how dare he” and talking about how President Trump “has taken this country to its knees.”
After pointing out that President Trump “has a nickname for everyone,” she gave President Trump a nickname of his own: “Don and the first grade reader.”
According to Wilson: “President Trump has emboldened the racists to come forward without any fear or fear of punitive actions, and we have got to stop this…because I could be next.”
Berman interjected, bringing up the President’s previous reference to the Congresswoman as “wacky” and said that he has used “similar language” to describe Newman since their feud first began. He then asked Wilson “Do you see a racial tinge to those comments like you clearly see something racial with the dog statement?”
Wilson responded to Berman’s question by saying without hesitation: “Mr. Trump is a White Supremacist. He has surrounded himself with White Supremacists, and everything that comes out of that White House is racist. So what he says is racist. The people around him, what they think, what they say, how they act is all racist, and we’ve got to stop this.”
Berman asked Wilson to clarify her remarks and she attempted to backtrack. The CNN anchor continued to engage Wilson in the conversation about whether or not President Trump is a white supremacist: “What distinguishes him, in your mind, from the people who marched in Washington the other day in this alt-right Neo-Nazi rally? Do you honestly see them in the same light?”
Wilson answered in the affirmative:
You can’t help but see him in the same light. He’s not only exhibiting the same kinds of characteristics, but he praises them and he gives them the power and he emboldens them to mimic what he does and what he tweets out every day. Omarosa is still a black woman. He has no right to call her a dog. I’m a black woman. He has no right to call me wacky. That’s wrong.
At this point, Berman pointed out that President Trump, an equal opportunity counterpuncher has called white people and men dogs in the past.” Wilson still insisted that “it’s always been African-American people that he’s called out of their names, names to embarrass them and to smear them.”
A transcript of the relevant portion of New Day is below. Click “expand” to read more.
CNN's New Day
08/14/18
08:25 AM
JOHN BERMAN: The President of the United States, with whom you’ve had your own issues over the years, moments ago called Omarosa Manigault-Newman, who worked for him, a dog. That is what he wrote on Twitter. It’s up on the screen for people to see. Your reaction to this.
REP. FREDERICA WILSON: A dog? How dare he. He has taken this country to its knees. We already have racism raining down all over America. People can’t even enjoy themselves. They can’t even enjoy an evening out. And I remember specifically telling the boys and the 5,000 role models of Excellence project be very careful because when they walk to a corner, someone locks the door. People hold onto their purse, when they get on an elevator, people get off. These are boys of color and now you have to say it to everyone because everyone is a target. We’re finding that college students, they’re calling the police because they went to sleep in their dorm. A little girl was selling water on the side of the street and they called the police, and the President of the United States is calling a woman of color a dog? How dare he. How dare he call anyone a dog. He has a nickname for everyone, and his nickname is Don and the first grade reader. That’s his nickname, and we have to stop him. And the only way we can stop him and stop all of this foolishness and all of this hate and all of this racism that’s raining down on America is we’ve got to send a blue wave through this country in the midterms and then we’ve got to send a blue wave in November and we’ll shut down all of this racism. LeBron James said it correctly when he said racism has always existed, but President Trump has emboldened the racists to come forward without any fear or fear of punitive actions, and we have got to stop this…
BERMAN: You…
WILSON: …because I could be next.
BERMAN: Well, look. In fact, the President called you wacky in a tweet more than a year ago, which is similar language to what he has used with Omarosa Manigault-Newman over the last couple of days. He called her wacky as well. Do you see a racial tinge to those comments like you clearly see something racial with the dog statement?
WILSON: I said it a year ago almost that Mr. Trump is a White Supremacist. He has surrounded himself with White Supremacists, and everything that comes out of that White House is racist. So what he says is racist. The people around him, what they think, what they say, how they act is all racist, and we’ve got to stop this -
BERMAN: Well, look, look…
WILSON: …and I don’t…
BERMAN: You said…
WILSON: …I don’t expect anything more from him but to call Omarosa a dog. That’s his trusted advisor. How dare he.
BERMAN: You called the President of the United States a White Supremacist surrounding himself with White Supremacists and everything that comes out of this White House is racist. Do you believe that everyone who works in the White House is a racist?
WILSON: Not everyone who works in the White House, but in order to work there, you have to have some sort of value system and it has to align itself with racism, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to exist in the White House. It is that thick. It is that clear. I know a woman who went to cash a check for $140 and the bank called the police to say that she had stolen it. She had to actually show her drivers license, her voter registration, everything.
BERMAN: You’re talking about something…you’re absolutely talking about something societal here and problems that exist around the country, but again, you have made a charge that President of the United States is a White Supremacist. What distinguishes him, in your mind, from the people who marched in Washington the other day in this alt-right Neo-Nazi rally? Do you honestly see them in the same light?
WILSON: You can’t help but see him in the same light. He’s not only exhibiting the same kinds of characteristics, but he praises them and he gives them the power and he emboldens them to mimic what he does and what he tweets out every day. Omarosa is still a black woman. He has no right to call her a dog. I’m a black woman. He has no right to call me wacky. That’s wrong.
BERMAN: Does it…
WILSON: He is the President of the United States of America.
BERMAN: I…I agree that he is the President of the United States of America. I think you can make a compelling case that no President of the United States should call anybody a dog under any circumstances. Does it matter…and I’m hesitant to dissect this on a word-by-word basis…but does it matter, in your mind, that he’s also called white people and men dogs in the past?
WILSON: You should not call anyone dogs. But overwhelmingly, in my knowledge and my experiences, it has always been African-American people that he’s called out of their names, names to embarrass them and to smear them. That has been…that has been my experience.
BERMAN: Well, there’s a list of people he’s called dogs. They’re not all…
WILSON: It’s all…it’s all on one side. It’s all on one side, as far as I know.
BERMAN: I’m not…I’m not sure in this case it matters. I mean using the word dog, as we can say, we can argue it simply isn’t presidential and I think you can make a compelling case that when you use it toward an African-American woman, it does mean something different than in other cases. But, just to state the case, he has said it about men and white men in the past as well. Representative Frederica Wilson, we do thank you for your time this morning. Thanks very much.
WILSON: Thank you.
