CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill said Monday night that Steve Harvey and other black people who have met with President-elect Donald Trump are just a “bunch of mediocre negroes” but later claimed he “wasn’t name-calling.”
“I love Steve Harvey and I have respect for Steve Harvey and I think his intentions were accurate, appropriate rather, but my disagreement is the way in which he’s being used by folk like Donald Trump. Yet, his intention is just to have a seat at the table. But when you’re at the table, you should have experts at the table. You should have people who will challenge the president at the table,” Hill said on “CNN Tonight” with Don Lemon.
“They keep bringing up comedians and athletes to represent black interests is demeaning, it’s disrespectful, and it’s condescending. Bring some people up there with expertise Donald Trump, don’t just bring up people to entertain,” he added later. “Unless Steve Harvey turns into a policy analyst in behind the scenes meetings it doesn’t matter what I’m saying. My concern is the people who he is trumpeting up and putting in front of the cameras.”
“Marc, you weren’t even there. You don’t even know what happened. You weren’t in the room, sir. You weren’t there,” said Bruce LeVell, director of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump, cutting into the conversation.
“How does that negate my point that he brought Steve Harvey and then put him in front of the camera?” Hill shot back.
“Listen, let me tell you something. Here’s the deal, you don’t know what happened. First of all, Pastor Darryl Scott, Mike Cohen, they are in the process of bringing all types of people from all over the country, all different backgrounds, like we have. Remember the diversity coalition where we reached out to all different types of people?” LeVell said.
“Yeah, it’s a bunch of mediocre negroes being dragged in front of TV as a photo-op for Donald Trump’s exploitive campaign against black people. And you are the prime example of that,” Hill said, addressing LeVell. Hill went on to claim he “wasn’t name-calling.”
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