On Wednesday, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough condemned Donald Trump’s racist comments targeting predominantly Black cities, specifically highlighting Milwaukee.
The presumptive Republican nominee disparaged Milwaukee, the upcoming host city for the party’s convention, during a recent meeting with lawmakers. This prompted Scarborough to mockingly open a can of Milwaukee’s Best on-air last week and revisit the issue on Wednesday.
“Trump, of course, has been on the defensive about his views on Milwaukee after telling Republican lawmakers in a private meeting last week that the city was, quote, ‘horrible,'” Scarborough stated. “One week later, when he’s in Wisconsin, he’s saying that he, quote, ‘loves Milwaukee.’
Again, you think they can handle this a little bit better, but the guy obviously has contempt for Milwaukee. It doesn’t matter how much people spin it on CNN.”
Trump has faced continued criticism after reports emerged that he planned to stay 90 miles away in one of his branded hotels in Chicago during the convention instead of in Milwaukee. Rev. Al Sharpton noted a pattern in the cities Trump criticizes.
“I notice he’s been very selective on the cities that he attacks,” Sharpton said. “They usually have Black mayors and usually have a large urban community. I had the mayor of Milwaukee on ‘Politics Nation’ the other night, and we talked about that.
According to Raw Story, You know, he never attacks certain cities that have some of the same challenges, but I think that we’re getting ahead of ourselves. He has a sentencing four days before the convention, and who knows, the judge may have other accommodations prepared for him. It’s maybe unlikely, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”
Scarborough agreed, comparing Trump’s disdain for certain American cities to his derogatory remarks about African and Caribbean nations, which he infamously labeled as “sh*thole countries.”
“The rev really just broke the code, really,” Scarborough said. “After Trump trashed Milwaukee, people said, ‘Oh, he would never say that.’ Okay, well, we found out that he did say that, and they made a lot of excuses—crime, the Brewers’ middle relievers, this or that. No, it wasn’t.
He trashed Milwaukee, but if you read the articles surrounding it, Republicans in Wisconsin have been trashing Milwaukee for a very long time. As the Rev said, it’s about cities with urban populations, with Black mayors. Republicans have always talked that way about Philadelphia and Detroit.”
“David Frum has a piece out on Donald Trump trashing Detroit,” Scarborough added. “We heard what he said about Africa and Caribbean nations. He might as well say it about cities, too, where there’s a predominantly Black population. Chances are very, very good that Donald Trump is not going to like that city.”