Thompson, NAACP blast Trump for intolerance
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and state NAACP President Derrick Johnson said if presidential candidate Donald Trump wanted to signal a change in his campaign to attract support from people of color, he would have sat down with the leadership of black majority Jackson.
During a Wednesday news conference at the state NAACP headquarters in Jackson on the day Trump is to rally in Jackson, Thompson said: “You can’t fool people by saying you have changed. “
Thompson said it would have been a good opportunity for Trump in a state with the highest minority population in the country and a capital city with at least 75 percent of the people living there of African American descent.
“Wouldn’t it have been wonderful for Trump to have sat with the leadership and talk about what I want in my campaign?” Thompson said.
Thompson said all the public doesn’t feel comfortable going to a Trump public rally setting like the one at the Mississippi Coliseum. Trump is also holding a private $1,000-a-plate fundraiser in Jackson prior to the public rally.
Thompson also criticized Trump for not disavowing support from the Klan and David Duke.
“We are here as Americans to say our commander-in-chief has to be far more tolerant than what we have heard from the Trump campaign,” Thompson said.
Thompson said "one of the things this country has made as a priority is to defend the rights of its citizens and much of that defense comes in who is commander-in-chief who not only respects the rights and privilege of everyone, but should be a champion for religious liberties, a champion of racial tolerance, not someone who singles out individuals because of their religious faith or talks about them because of the color of their skin. We are a better country than that."
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Johnson said Trump has indicated he wants to make America great again, but Johnson said America’s greatness cannot be found in its past, only in its future.
“While Trump clings to the hateful and intolerant rhetoric of this country’s shameful history, we choose instead to march toward a better future where we celebrate our differences and not deride them,” Johnson said. “That is the decision America must make, not between this candidate or another, this party or another, but between fueling hate or looking to embrace something better for all.”
Contact Jimmie E. Gates at 601-961-7212 or jgates@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @jgatesnews on Twitter.