President ‘Seemed to Suggest Her Ethnicity Should Determine Her Career Path’
In yet another example of how President Donald Trump’s racist views cloud his judgment, NBC News reports Friday afternoon that last fall in the Oval Office the president received an intelligence briefing on the status of the impending release of a family held in Pakistan. Once the briefing had concluded, President Trump asked the person who briefed him, a career intelligence analyst who also is an expert in hostage policy, a question.
“Where are you from?” the president asked, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the exchange.
New York, she replied.
Trump was unsatisfied and asked again, the officials said. Referring to the president’s hometown, she offered that she, too, was from Manhattan. But that’s not what the president was after.
He wanted to know where “your people” are from, according to the officials…
The career intelligence analyst ultimately told the president her parents were from Korea.
Trump turned to an adviser in the room and seemed to suggest her ethnicity should determine her career path, asking why the “pretty Korean lady” isn’t negotiating with North Korea on his administration’s behalf, the officials said.
Trump, it has often been reported, likes to match people to jobs he thinks they look qualified for. MSNBC recently ran a compilation video of Trump talking about people he’s hiring, and in each instance says they look like they’re from “central casting.”
The NBC News article also offers two more examples of Trump’s racist thinking.
At a March meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Trump asked the elected officials if they knew just one member of his incoming cabinet — Ben Carson — according to two people in the room.
Carson, the only black member of Trump’s Cabinet, had never served in Congress and spent his career as a surgeon. None of the lawmakers knew Carson, and Trump found that surprising, the attendees said.
During that same meeting, a member relayed to Trump that potential welfare cuts would harm her constituents, “not all of whom are black.” The president replied: “Really? Then what are they?”
To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.
If you find NCRM valuable, would you please consider making a donation to support our independent journalism?
Â
Â