TO DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO FIND THOSE, MOSTLY GUYS, AND GO FIND
THEM AND BRING THEM OUT.
>> I DID THE MATH TODAY,
EVERYBODY.
EVERYBODY. I WANT TO GO TO JON MEACHAM ON
THIS.
THIS. THERE ARE 47 MILLION PEOPLE HERE
WHO ARE AFRICAN-AMERICAN, WHOSE
ROOTS GO BACK TO BEFORE MANY
EUROPEAN AMERICANS GOT HERE.
56 MILLION HISPANIC PEOPLE, MANY
OF THEM ARE COLOR, ALMOST 100
MILLION PEOPLE.
MILLION PEOPLE. THIS ISN’T A MARGINALIZED GROUP
OF PEOPLE IN NEW YORK CITY, THIS
IS A BIG CHUNK OF THIS COUNTRY
HE’S TALKING ABOUT TODAY WHEN HE
MAKES FUN OF PEOPLE AND SAYS
THEY SHOULD GO HOME.
>> AND EVEN THE PREMISE OF THE
QUESTION, WHICH IS ENTIRELY
FAIR, IS GIVING HIM TOO MUCH OF
A VICTORY.
A VICTORY. GIVING THE PRESIDENT TOO MUCH OF
A VICTORY.
A VICTORY. IT’S LONG BEEN SAID -- PRESIDENT
REAGAN SAID IT QUITE WELL, THAT
AMERICA’S THE ONE PLACE ON EARTH
THAT IS NOT ABOUT A BIRTHRIGHT,
IT’S ABOUT THE ASCENT TO AN
IDEA, AN IDEA THAT WAS WRITTEN
IN ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
SENTENCES EVER WRITTEN IN THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE THAT ALL MEN
WERE CREATED OIL ANDEQUAL AND EN
BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN
INALIENABLE RIGHTS.
INALIENABLE RIGHTS. THAT JOURNEY OF A MORE PERFECT
UNION IS THE STORY OF THE
COUNTRY.
COUNTRY. AND WHAT THE PRESIDENT’S DONE
HERE IS YET AGAIN, BECAUSE I
THINK HE DID IT AFTER
CHARLOTTESVILLE AND I THINK HE
DID IT, FRANKLY, WHEN HE WAS
PUSHING THE BIRTHER LIE ABOUT
PRESIDENT OBAMA.
PRESIDENT OBAMA. >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. >> HE HAS JOINED ANDREW JOHNSON
AS THE MOST RACIST PRESIDENT IN
AMERICAN HISTORY.
AMERICAN HISTORY. JOHNSON IN A STATE MESSAGE SAID
THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE
INCAPABLE OF SELF-GOVERNMENT AND
RELAPSED INTO BARBERISM IF THEY
WON’T CLOSELY SUPERVISED.
THE AUTHOR OF RECONSTRUCTION
SAYS THAT IS THE MOST RACIST
STATEMENT BY A PRESIDENT IN A
PUBLIC STATEMENT.
PUBLIC STATEMENT. >> WHAT ABOUT PRESIDENTS WHO
USED THE WEDGE?
GEORGE BUSH SR.
REAGAN TALKING ABOUT YOUNG
BUCKS, WELFARE QUEENS.
BILL CLINTON WITH SISTER SOLDIER
AND THESE NUANCE THINGS LIKE
PEOPLE WHO WORK HARD AND PLAY BY
THE RULES.
THE RULES. IT SEEMS THAT WEDGE IS VERY
USEFUL POLITICALLY TO GET WHITE
VOTERS TO SAY I’M WITH THEM, I’M
NOT WITH THE OTHERS.
>> WELL, WITHOUT GETTING INTO
THE SPECIFICS, AS YOU KNOW VERY,
VERY WELL, AMERICAN POLITICS HAS
BEEN DEFINED SINCE THE BROWN
DECISION AND EVEN BEFORE,
REALLY, BUT PARTICULARLY SINCE
MAY 1954.
MAY 1954. BY AN ATTEMPT BY POLITICIANS TO
PUT POOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND
BROWN AMERICANS AND POOR WHITE
AMERICANS POINTING AT EACH OTHER
INSTEAD OF POINTING UP.
>> GEORGE WALLACE --
>> AND THAT’S THE -- YEAH,
THAT’S THE STORY OF THE RACIAL
POLITICS OF THE COUNTRY IN THE
MODERN ERA.
MODERN ERA. AND BY USING CULTURE INSTEAD OF
ECONOMICS, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
IN THE MODERN ERA HAS DONE VERY
WELL -- THERE WAS A -- IT WAS,
TO BE FAIR, BECAUSE I THINK THIS
IS A STUPID ARGUMENT ABOUT
HISTORICAL COMPLICITY FROM ONE
PARTY TO THE OTHER ABOUT NOW,
BUT TO BE FAIR, WHITE DEMOCRATS
DID IT FOREVER, REPUBLICANS ARE
DOING IT AT THE MOMENT AND IT
COULD SWITCH AGAIN IN TERMS OF
THE LABEL.
THE LABEL. THE MORE IMPORTANT POINT IS THAT
WHAT WE HAVE TO DO FACED WITH
THIS, AND I THOUGHT PETER’S LEAD
THIS MORNING WAS FANTASTIC ABOUT
HE JUST DECIDED TO THROW A MATCH
ON THE KINDLING.
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH. >> AND WHEN PEOPLE SAY -- ONE
LAST THING HERE.
WHEN PEOPLE SAY THIS ISN’T WHO
WE ARE, THAT’S NOT TRUE, IT IS
WHO WE ARE, IT’S WHO WE ARE ON
OUR WORST DAY.
AND IT’S POINTLESS TO TRY TO
GIVE -- FROM WHAT TRUMP HAS BEEN
SAYING.
SAYING. THERE IS A COMPLICITY.
THERE IS A NATIONAL COMPLICITY
IN THIS AND THE WAY MESH MOVES