Former NAACP President Cornell Brooks Slams Trump’s Attack on NFL Players: He’s the ‘Racial Opportunist-in-Chief’
Former NAACP president Cornell Brooks responded to Donald Trump’s latest attacks against NFL players protesting police brutality by calling the president the “racial opportunist-in-chief” during a CNN appearance today.
“The president is essentially saying that American citizens who are standing up for the rights under the Constitution are too stupid, too ignorant, unable to articulate what in fact they’re standing against,” Brooks said while on CNN’ Newsroom Friday morning. “These players know full well that young black men are 21 times more likely to lose his life at the hands of police than his white counterpart.”
He continued: “These players understand full well that police misconduct goes on unchecked in this country and that black and brown bodies are essentially the punching bags of bad policing and police unaccountability. The president knows that but our commander-in-chief is in fact the racial opportunist in chief in this country.”
After taking a short break from commenting on the issue, Trump started the culture war over the NFL protests all over again this morning by tweeting that players who do protest the anthem in any way should “be suspended without pay.”
The NFL players are at it again – taking a knee when they should be standing proudly for the National Anthem. Numerous players, from different teams, wanted to show their “outrage” at something that most of them are unable to define. They make a fortune doing what they love……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2018
…..Be happy, be cool! A football game, that fans are paying soooo much money to watch and enjoy, is no place to protest. Most of that money goes to the players anyway. Find another way to protest. Stand proudly for your National Anthem or be Suspended Without Pay!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2018
By doing this, Brooks said that the president is “using race to incite the base, not bearing in mind that his irresponsible presidential rhetoric literally results in racial tensions being exacerbated and literally lives being put at risk.”
Watch above, via Fox News.
[image via screengrab]
