President Donald Trump has reportedly aired a host of anti-Semitic and racist complaints behind closed doors throughout his presidency.
According to a Washington Post report Wednesday, Trump has complained several times that Jewish people are “only in it for themselves” and “stick together” after getting off the phone with Jewish lawmakers.
The President has also said Black Americans don’t have initiative and are primarily at fault for racial inequality.
A former Trump official told the Post that while Trump isn’t a white supremacist, the President has a “general awareness that one component of his base includes factions that trend in that direction,” leading him to repeatedly defend Confederate symbols, for example.
White House spokesperson Sarah Matthews claimed in a statement that Trump’s “record as a private citizen and as President has been one of fighting for inclusion and advocating for the equal treatment of all.”
“Anyone who suggests otherwise is only seeking to sow division,” said Matthews.
The Post’s report emerges as Trump targets what he calls “anti-American” workplace trainings and school lessons that teach about white privilege and the ways in which systemic racism still plagues the country.
Trump’s private comments about Black people also echo moments during his interviews with journalist Bob Woodward that saw the President scoff at the idea that privileged white men like himself have a responsibility to understand the pain of Black Americans.
“You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you? Just listen to you,” Trump said with a laugh when Woodward asked him about the issue. “Wow. No, I don’t feel that at all.”
