Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, called President Trump “the grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” during a speech honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
“These are challenging times in the United States of America,” the New York Democrat said at a National Action Network event Monday in Manhattan.
“We have a hater in the White House, the birther-in-chief, the grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” he said. “One of the things that we’ve learned is that while Jim Crow may be dead, he’s still got some nieces and nephews that are alive and well. So one of the things that we need to do is learn from the lessons of Dr. King and how we dealt with such hate in the ’50s and ’60s.”
Mr. Jeffries, who had previously labeled Mr. Trump “a racial arsonist,” wasn’t the only politician to attack the president on the federal holiday marking King’s birthday.
Speaking at the National Action Network’s annual MLK breakfast in Washington, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden said Mr. Trump brought “folks out from under the rocks” and “legitimized” hate.
Sen. Bernard Sanders told a NAACP rally in Columbia, South Carolina, that “it gives me no pleasure to tell you that we now have a president of the United States who is a racist.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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