Things got heated on CNN after President Trump made an appearance at the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
Paris Dennard, who is a Trump supporter, and Democratic operative A. Scott Bolden got into it when Bolden began trying to force Dennard to defend his blackness.
The men spoke over each other with Bolden pointing out that the president’s speech didn’t hold water since he was out the night before campaigning for Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore who has said the last time America was great was when there was slavery.
The host of the show, Fredricka Whitfield asked Dennard how, “as a black man,” he could get behind the president as he supported a candidate who “talked about days being great in the days of slavery.”
Bolden jumped in and shouted, “he can’t” and went on to press Dennard for an answer. Dennard tried to say this was not appropriate but Bolden kept talking.
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“Let’s listen to him,” Bolden said. “Let’s listen to you trying to defend yourself as a black man with Donald Trump. Let’s hear it.”
“Scott, I really wish you would hold your tongue because you will not offend my race, my family and my culture and insinuating that my blackness is in question because I support this president,” Dennard replied.
That’s when Dennard began to get loud. He said he would not be forced to defend his blackness as Whitfield tried to get the conversation back on track. She said that she wasn’t trying to get Dennard to defend his race, that she was simply looking for his response from him, as a black man, to what Moore said about slavery and Trump’s support of Moore.
“So if you want to talk about Alabama, let’s talk about the fullness of it,” Dennard said. “The president endorsed Luther Strange. That is who he wanted to be in this position.”
“This is another pivot,” Bolden interrupted, which just led to more minutes of the two men loudly arguing.
