President Donald Trump held a “listening session” about Black History Month on Wednesday — and promptly made the meeting all about himself.
Trump not only used the meeting to spout off about his long-running feud with CNN, but also asked a group of black supporters sitting with him to say some nice things about him.
“We love the Lord, we love our new president, and we’re praying for our new president,” one pastor from Ohio gushed to Trump. “Our president gives us his ear, to listen to the community, to listen. And people like us are here to constantly put that message out into the community. And we love you for that.”
The reaction across Twitter was fierce, and it was not pretty. Many Twitter users noted that Trump took the occasion to talk about himself rather than exclusively paying tribute to black history in the United States.
Others, meanwhile, mocked Trump’s ignorance of both black history and historical black figures — for instance, the president described Frederick Douglass as “somebody who has done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.”
Check out some of the top reactions below.
He was *this close* to asking "Why do we have a Black History Month but we don't have a Trump History Month?"
— Keith Harris (@useful_noise) February 1, 2017
One sentence on MLK, eight about Donald Trump. Happy Black History Month! https://t.co/s8ncbtuImq
— Eric Chesterton (@CF_Larue) February 1, 2017
Only trump can somehow make black history month about himself. https://t.co/GY0bye3VfU
— Michael Fiore (@fiore_michael) February 1, 2017
I can't wait until Hispanic Heritage Month…when he congratulates Ponce de Leon for building a fountain at Mar-a-Lago. https://t.co/vLb5M1fcVv
— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) February 1, 2017
Pretty sure Trump knows nothing about black history
— Jordan Malloy (@Jordan_Malloy) February 1, 2017
What's the likelihood that Trump didn't even know what Black History Month was until a few hours ago
— Justin Carter (@GigawattConduit) February 1, 2017
We laugh, but Trump knows about what I'd guess the typical white voter knows about black history or black people. And they like that.
— The Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom (@tressiemcphd) February 1, 2017
Carson: say something abt Frederick Douglass
Trump: I don't listen to rap
Carson: You. ..
Trump: ok, I 'll wing it#blackhistorymonth— Ill-diss Elba ❄ #CFC #fra (@MarkNMays) February 1, 2017
Shout out to Frederick Douglass for being recognized more & more; hopefully soon he'll do so good Trump will misspell his name in a tweet.
— Rochelle Shipman (@rochelleshipman) February 1, 2017
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