Following President Trump’s unusual comments about President Andrew Jackson being able to stop the Civil War, the media was all abuzz trying to figure out what he meant by it. During CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night, commenter Jeffrey Lord explained that Trump might have been attracted to Jackson’s economic populism, but Lord condemned Jackson’s racism. He also reminded viewers that it was Democrats who backed slavery and racism. That didn’t sit well with New York Times columnist Charles Blow, who proceeded to rail against Republicans.
“And I would add, not simply was an economy built on the backs of slaves, the Democratic Party was built on the back of slave and race,” Lord told Cooper and Blow. “And my argument is that that culture of race and racism and obsession with race has never left the party and is still present there today.”
Blow, who appeared to be triggered by Lord’s historical facts, admitted that almost all African-Americans would have identified as Republicans 100 years ago, but not anymore. “Until the decades leading up to the '60s and the '60s in particular. And even into the '70s and '80s, when the Republican Party decided that it wanted to attract the people who hated black people rather than keep the black people that it had,” he ranted.
That’s right, according to Blow, the Republican wanted to cater to the needs of racists instead of the people they wanted to free. “And explicitly said that they wanted to attract the Negro folks -- that’s the word that they used. Not black people,” he asserted.
He then opined about how the GOP supposedly “betrayed” African-Americans:
And that betrayal of the black people and black voters in America who had stuck by the Republican Party their entire life for generations and to be betrayed by that party, to be turned away and told that they -- the party then wanted to attract the people that hated them was a betrayal that black people have never forgiven.
The angry ranting was solicited by moderator Anderson Cooper, who wanted Blow to respond to Lord’s take. “Charles, is slavery the brainchild of one political party,” he ridiculously asked. Lord never said that slavery was the “brainchild” of Democrats. He just recalled the historical fact that it was Democrats who tried to break away from the Union in order to keep their slaves. And after the war, it was Democrats who enacted Jim Crow laws.
This type of anger towards Republicans by Blow is common. He once declared that he didn’t care what the President’s supporters think and had “no patience” for reaching out to them. He had also claimed that the GOP’s desire to repeal ObamaCare wasn’t driven by the law’s negative effects, but that “they’d rather die of disease than be kept alive by a plan bearing his name.”
Transcript below:
CNN
Anderson Cooper 360
May 1, 2017
8:49:39 PM…
JEFFREY LORD: Here is the thing with Andrew Jackson. I think the President identifies with his economic populism. But when it comes to race, I don't want my friend Charles to fall over, but not only do I agree with him, I [completely] agree with him. And I would add, not simply was an economy built on the backs of slaves, the Democratic Party was built on the back of slave and race. And my argument is that that culture of race and racism and obsession with race has never left the party and is still present there today. And that is part of the legacy -- the racial legacy of Andrew Jackson which is just terrible.
ANDERSON COOPER: Charles, is slavery the brainchild of one political party?
CHARLES BLOW: See, Jeffrey Lord knows that if you walked into any room in America 100 years ago and asked the African-Americans in that room whether or not they were Republicans or Democrats, almost all of them would have said that they were Republicans. Because the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln. It was the -- it was the -- it was that party. Until the decades leading up to the '60s and the '60s in particular. And even into the '70s and '80s, when the Republican Party decided that it wanted to attract the people who hated black people rather than keep the black people that it had.
And explicitly said that they wanted to attract the Negro folks -- that’s the word that they used. Not black people. And that betrayal of the black people and black voters in America who had stuck by the Republican Party their entire life for generations and to be betrayed by that party, to be turned away and told that they -- the party then wanted to attract the people that hated them was a betrayal that black people have never forgiven.
…
