A CNN analyst called President Trump a “white supremacist” on Monday during a debate over the weekend’s NFL national anthem protests.
The eponymous host of “At This Hour With Kate Bouldan” found herself in an awkward position Monday morning when analyst Keith Boykin explicitly called the commander in chief a “white supremacist.” The charge, which he refused to recant when given an opportunity, came while discussing Mr. Trump’s opinion that football players who refuse to stand for the national anthem should be fired.
“He’s encouraging white supremacists, and the fact is—,” Mr. Boykin said before getting cut off, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
“Are you really going—” Ms. Bouldan said.
“Yes, I’m going to, and we can debate that later,” the analyst replied.
The host then warned her guest not to “throw the grenade” and asked if he honestly believed his rhetoric.
“It almost doesn’t matter what I think, or whether he is or not,” Mr. Boykin said. “He thinks apparently that he is a slavemaster of black people in the NFL, of black people in the country. […] He’s attacking [ESPN’s] Jemele Hill and Colin Kaepernick, and he’s attacking [NBA star] Steph Curry. He’s attacking black athletes and black sports figures, but he doesn’t want to attack the white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan members in Charlottesville.”
Mr. Boykin did not mention that Ms. Hill was forced to apologize this month for a Sept. 11 tweet that claimed Mr. Trump’s election “is a direct result of white supremacy.”
The president has also condemned racist groups multiple times since protests in Charlottesville, Virigina, ended with the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer. She was run over over by a vehicle operated by James Alex Fields Jr., 20, at a protest organized by white nationalist groups. The suspect was charged with second-degree murder.
“Racism is evil — and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” Mr. Trump said Aug. 14. “Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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