Rev. Al Sharpton, at a gathering at the Harlem headquarters of the National Action Network, spoke out about Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, and accused him of racism and conspiracy to suppress the African-American voter turnout.
Though the controversial and pronounced civil rights leader initially gathered in New York with politicians to discuss protesting tactics against the Tuesday night shooting of Deborah Danner, he started the discussion with strong words against Trump.
Sharpton voiced outrage at the way Trump has expressed concerns over rigging at the polls and threatened to have monitors at all voting stations; an attack Sharpton believes to be aimed at African Americans due to Trump’s past showing of racism. Sharpton stated:
“I’m going to deal with the focus on ‘voter fraud,’ that—and ‘rigged election’—that Donald Trump has been trying to use, and the danger of voter intimidation. They have actually said they want to have people go to the polls and become poll watchers who when you hear the description—I want you all to deal with this in the morning—they are really there to intimidate voters. And we are, that is a voting rights issue, and a civil rights issue, and I want us to deal with that.”
Sharpton recalled one of many racist moments by Trump where, in 1989, Trump took out several full-page ads in prominent New York publications that demanded that five black and Latino youth accused of raping a jogger in Central Park receive the death penalty. This came as a jab to the civil rights leader since all accused were exonerated for the crime and Trump, regardless of the outcome, continued to deny their innocence. Sharpton spoke passionately about it saying:
“I will not let this go! The only reference that Donald Trump has ever taken a position in his hometown of New York on a race-related matter was when he called for the execution of those five young men. And even worse when DNA proved, after they had done more than a decade in jail, that they were innocent, he still says that they were wrong and the city shouldn’t have settled with them. That is the facts that they won’t bring out.”
Sharpton and Trump’s relationship goes back decades, and Sharpton is appalled at the thought of a man that built his political career off of fame and lies about the birth of President Obama, could even have a small chance at taking the Oval Office. Sharpton professed:
“I want you all to get this to the barbershop: Donald Trump, who was just an entertainer on TV, built political capital promoting what was an outright lie on the president of the United States.For you and I to sit in January and watch this president have to hand the Bible to the man who denied his birth, would be a scene that I don’t know any of use would have understood what we’re looking at.”
Though Sharpton focuses on the critical angle of racism with voter intimidation, the bullying of non-Trump fans is far reaching and ever increasing as we draw closer and closer to election day. To think Trump would calm this apparently purposeful intimidation factor down for the safety of those he is asking to represent is far-fetched and obviously not in the cards.
Featured Image Via The Inquisitr
