Hakeem Jeffries slaps down Trump's new 'sad and pathetic' attorney for 'racist' comments before Senate trial

Speaking with CNN host John Berman on Monday morning, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) slapped aside comments made by one of Donald Trump's new attorneys on Fox News this weekend, calling the lawyer's words "racist" and labeling the lawyer as "sad and pathetic."

With Trump's impeachment trial scheduled to open on Tuesday, advocates for the president have been testing the waters with various defenses, from the unconstitutionality of the proceedings to attempts to undercut video expected to be presented by the House impeachment managers.

Appearing on Fox, Trump attorney Bruce Castor was asked about video of the Capitol insurrection that had U.S. lawmakers fleeing for their lives and said he might present video of Black Lives Matter protests.

"There is an awful lot of tape of cities burning and courthouses being attacked and federal agents being assaulted by rioters in the street cheered on by Democrats," Castor stated.

Asked to respond, Jeffries fired back, "It's sad and pathetic. So the president doesn't really have any meaningful defense to the fact that he incited a violent insurrection that resulted in the spilling of American blood. So when all else fails, play the race card. That's been the M.O. of this president long before he was actually president."

"This is the same person who for five years perpetrated the racist lie that Barack Obama was not born in the United States of America as a part of an effort to delegitimize America's first Black president and many people think he rode that big lie into the White House," he continued. "Now he rode a lie out of the White House that he was actually elected, which was not the case -- he lost."

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