Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who previously served as the first Muslim member of Congress, said Monday that “the objective evidence” demonstrates President Donald Trump is sympathetic to white supremacy.
“I think sometimes you simply have to yield to the objective evidence, and that is – that points to him being sympathetic to that point of view. Whether it’s Charlottesville or whatever it is, I mean it all seems to point back to he has some sympathy for that position and is not willing to condemn it,” Ellison, who served in the House from 2007 to January of this year, told CNN’s John Berman on “New Day.”
“He wouldn’t condemn (former Ku Klux Klan leader) David Duke. I mean there’s just so many points of evidence that indicate that, for some reason, he is reluctant to condemn white supremacy or recognize it. And I think that’s dangerous, not just to communities of color, Jews, gays, people like that. I think it’s dangerous to the government because I think that one thing is for sure: white supremacists, neo-Nazi groups, they look at governments as complicit, guilty and (they) target government for punishment,” Ellison said, adding that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh is “a perfect example.”
Ellison’s comments came as he was discussing Trump’s response to the New Zealand mosque shootings Friday that left 50 dead. The suspect, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, left behind a manifesto titled “The Great Replacement” that was filled with anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim ideas and explanations for an attack. The manifesto was not signed.
Responding to the massacre last week, Trump said he does not see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world.
“I think it’s a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess. If you look what happened in New Zealand, perhaps that’s the case,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday” over the weekend, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney defended his boss’ rhetoric: “The President is not a white supremacist.”
“To simply ask the question every time something like this happens overseas, or even domestically, to say, ‘Oh my goodness, it must somehow be the President’s fault,’ speaks to a politicization of everything that I think is undermining sort of the institutions that we have in the country today,” Mulvaney said.
Ellison, however, told Berman he thinks Trump’s language – including his use of the words “invading” and “invader” in regard to illegal immigration – “signals that there is some kind of connection” between the President and actions by individuals around the world who hold racist views.
“The other thing I think it shows is encouragement,” Ellison added. “So if you are a motivated white supremacist, then there’s a chance that you could think the President approves of what you’re doing. So those are two very scary things and I think the vigilant need to take notice that this threat needs to be addressed.”
CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.