Jeffries Explains Calling Trump ‘Grand Wizard Of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue’

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Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) somewhat softened his calling President Donald Trump the “grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” on Wednesday, though he maintained that he does not regret his statement and that Trump has a track record of offensive actions.

“With respect to the comments of a few days ago, we’ve got to have an opportunity for at least one day a year to have a candid, if sometimes uncomfortable, conversation about race,” Jeffries told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota after making the comments on MLK Day. “Seems to me that we can’t have that conversation on Valentine’s Day, we can’t have that conversation on Saint Patrick’s Day.”

“I did use a colorful phrase, but of course I don’t believe that the President is a card-carrying member of the KKK,” he continued. “But it did capture a troubling pattern of racially insensitive and outrageous, at times, behavior that spans not months, not years, but decades.”

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