President Trump accused Spike Lee of being ‘racist’ Monday, following the director’s comments during an acceptance speech at the Oscars where he called on Americans to vote against Trump to “be on the right side of history”
Accepting an award for best adapted screenplay for the movie BlacKkKlansman, Lee began with an expletive, then warned Oscar producers not to put a clock on his speech.
“Our ancestors were stolen from Mother Africa and bought to Jamestown, Virginia, enslaved,” the director stated.
“Before the world tonight, I give praise to our ancestors who have built this country into what it is today along with the genocide of its native people.” Lee continued, adding “We all connect with our ancestors.
Lee then turned to current US politics, declaring “The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilise. Let’s all be on the right side of history.”
While not mentioning Trump by name, Lee urged viewers to “Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there.”
Trump addressed the comments Monday morning, calling it a “racist hit on your president” and touting the “Lowest Unemployment numbers in History” among black people.
Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2019
The BlacKkKlansman movie features footage of the rally in Charlottesville in 2017, where violence was blamed on white nationalists. Trump was criticized as racist for pointing out that there was unacceptable behavior and violence from both sides at the rally, including black lives matter activists.
Speaking to a reporter recently, Lee commented on the footage, stating “That car drove down that one street in [Charlottesville], Virginia, and the president of the United States did not reject, refute [or] did not denounce the Klan, Alt-Right and Neo-Nazis.”
“This film, whether we won Best Picture or not, this film will stand the test of time being on the right side of history.” Lee added.
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