Cory Booker says President Trump uses race to divide the country
Presidential hopeful Cory Booker, the Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey, says President Trump is empowering hate beliefs throughout the country.
Speaking to various news organizations following a Friday campaign appearance in Simpsonville, S.C., the former mayor of Newark said Trump’s philosophies are giving strength to white supremacist beliefs.
“Donald Trump has been using race … as a way to divide Americans,” Yahoo News reported. Booker told the news organization, “He’s been attacking people. He’s been using racist policies and language. He’s been empowering hate.”
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As an example, Booker pointed to last year’s report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Montgomery, Ala., organization that documents hate groups and activity, that hate crimes in the country in 2017 climbed to 7,175, overpowering a previous high. The organization based its report on FBI data.
“We’ve seen unfortunate reports of biased incidences going up,” Booker told reporters. “I believe we need to protect ourselves and our communities and our neighborhoods from the kind of racist policies and actions that we see coming from this president.”
Booker added, “It’s deeply unfortunate that this is a man who … can’t condemn Nazis … a guy who, literally, you see white supremacists using his language in their own materials.”
Yahoo News did not provide a response from the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to TheGrio‘s request for comment.
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Though Booker’s comments were plentiful, he came short of calling Trump an outright racist, Yahoo News reported.
“I’m less concerned about how you label him than I am about protecting people that he’s hurting and protecting against his racist and harmful policies,” he said.
About 500 people gathered at Booker’s South Carolina campaign stop at Reedy Fork Baptist Church, according to The State.
During his speech, Booker called for raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour and said the “assault on unions” must end, The State reported.
Booker launched his campaign on Feb. 1. He is due to appear in Charleston, S.C., on Sunday.
