Politics

‘The Cruelty Is The Point’: Ayanna Pressley Hoped Trump Wouldn’t Tweet About John Lewis

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
Font Size:

Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley said Sunday that she had been hoping President Donald Trump would not tweet about the passing of civil rights icon John Lewis.

Pressley joined CNN’s Jake Tapper to discuss the legacy of the Democratic Georgia congressman — who died late Friday after a battle with stage four pancreatic cancer — and went on to claim that the president’s policies “dishonored the blood that he shed on that bridge.” (RELATED: ‘Case Study In Media Bias’: Kayleigh McEnany Blasts Washington Post For Taking Her Out Of Context)

WATCH:

Tapper began the segment with a comment about President Trump’s push to roll back the Obama-era 2015 fair housing regulation that was designed to supplement the Fair Housing Act of 1968, asking Pressley what she made of the situation.

“What’s your reaction to that?” Tapper asked.

“More of the same from Donald Trump and this administration who sowed the seeds of division. And I can’t even accuse that — characterize that as a dog whistle. It’s so far beyond that,” Pressley replied, adding, “That’s why, you know, I was hoping the president would not even tweet yesterday about John Lewis.”

“At this point we don’t need anybody’s sympathies or tweets. What we need is action,” Pressley continued. “If you really want to honor the life of John Lewis, you don’t do things like gut the fair housing laws. You don’t sow the seeds of division. You don’t delay bringing the Voting Rights Advancement Act named after John Lewis to the floor. And that should be brought to the floor immediately. So they’re a complete contradiction of everything that John Lewis fought for. They dishonored the blood that he shed on that bridge.”

Tapper pressed again, asking whether Pressley felt that the president’s comments were racist, noting that he made the remarks at the White House and not at a campaign rally.

“John Lewis said Donald Trump is racist,” Pressley concluded. “I mean, again, at this point, this is so much bigger than his hateful rhetoric. I’m focused and don’t allow myself to get distracted by his hateful policies. The cruelty is the point when it comes to their culture, the corruption is the point.”

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel