Media

The Media Has Its ‘Kanye Moment’ On Trump — CNN, MSNBC Make Disaster Relief All About ‘Racism’ [VIDEO]

Brian Stelter and Kanye West (Youtube screen shot / CNN screen shot)

Justin Caruso Contributor
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Just as rapper Kanye West once infamously said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” for that president’s response to Hurricane Katrina, many mainstream media commentators are lobbing accusations of racism at President Donald Trump for his handling of the disaster in Puerto Rico.

CNN, MSNBC, and other media outlets are once again rushing to paint Trump as a racist, taking his criticism of San Juan mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz as proof of his malice against Puerto Rican people.

CNN’s Brian Stelter accused Donald Trump of using a “racist dog whistle.”

Stelter also said that Donald Trump had a “race problem,” that was reinforced by his criticisms of the mayor of San Juan.

The CNN host said, “Most Americans actually are opposed to this president, and many Americans think he’s a racist. He has a race problem. And when he tweets about Puerto Rico saying ‘they,’ saying ‘they need a handout,’ he makes his race problem worse.”

MSNBC commentator Jason Johnson, appearing on “AM Joy” Saturday, accused Trump of governing as a white nationalist. Johnson laid the racial rhetoric on heavy, implying that Trump has “a belief that only white people are true Americans.”

Johnson said, “This is what white nationalism looks like as policy. We’ve been talking about this all along. When you have a policy, when you have a belief that only white people are true Americans, Puerto Rico are Americans, Donald Trump doesn’t care about that, therefore he is attacking people and distracting from the fact that our response there, to fellow American citizens, has not been adequate.” (RELATED: MSNBC Panelist On Puerto Rico: Trump Believes ‘Only White People Are True Americans’ [VIDEO])

He wasn’t the only guest on “AM Joy” to accuse Trump of racism.

New York City Council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito stated that the president was, “someone who does not have empathy, who does not care, who is implementing racist policy, who is setting a double standard that somehow the lives on this island, and on the U.S. Virgin Islands are not equivalent or don’t deserve or merit our attention or seriousness.”

Meanwhile “AM Joy” host Joy Reid penned a Daily Beast column accusing Trump of going on a “demented” and “racist” tweetstorm.

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough tweeted, “Trump’s racism now is costing lives in PR.”

GQ correspondent Keith Olbermann used his web show “The Resistance” to call Trump a “racist psychopath.”

Trump never actually said anything about race.

In a series of tweets, the President said, “The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.”

He added, “…Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.” (RELATED: Trump Attacks Media, Democrats And Mayor During Hurricane Relief Effort)

Trump also attacked the media, saying, “Fake News CNN and NBC are going out of their way to disparage our great First Responders as a way to “get Trump.” Not fair to FR or effort!,” and “The Fake News Networks are working overtime in Puerto Rico doing their best to take the spirit away from our soldiers and first R’s. Shame!”

This isn’t the first time the media has made a conflict more racially inflammatory with its reporting. Despite the fact that Donald Trump has stated the NFL kneeling controversy has “nothing to do with race,” CNN, MSNBC, and other mainstream outlets took to using divisive rhetoric. (RELATED: ‘It IS About Race’ — Media Sees Trump-NFL Controversy As Racial — Even If Trump Says Otherwise [VIDEO])

Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson called out CNN for coverage that he characterized as “racial demagoguery.”

All of this echoes the infamous remarks made by rapper and singer Kanye West during disaster relief following Hurricane Katrina and the levees breaking in New Orleans.

West, exasperated by the response to the natural disaster, exclaimed, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people!” during a telethon to raise money for hurricane relief.

West has since walked back the remarks, apologizing directly to Bush years later.

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