“He’s Hispanic. Which I so admire.”
President Donald Trump delivered lengthy and rambling remarks to reporters with soon-to-be former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta by his side. Trump announced Acosta is resigning in the wake of nationwide outrage over his gift of a sweetheart deal to accused child rapist and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump went to unusually great lengths to defend and praise Acosta, at one point even praising him for his heritage.
“He was a great student at Harvard,” Trump said of his outgoing Labor Secretary. “He’s Hispanic, which I so admire, because maybe it was a little tougher for him – and maybe not. But he did an unbelievable job as the secretary of Labor.”
But Trump also blamed Democrats for forcing Acosta’s resignation, credit Democrats no doubt will be happy to take. In reality, it was not just Democrats who have been outraged by Acosta’s actions. Hard-hitting and award-winning journalism by The Miami Herald first brought Acosta’s and Epstein’s actions to light.
Secretary Acosta “made a deal” with Jeffrey Epstein, Trump told reporters, “that people are happy with, and then 12 years later, they are not happy with it. You’ll have to figure all of that out. But the fact is he has been a fantastic Secretary of Labor … this is him not me, because I am with him.”
Trump called Acosta “a great Labor Secretary, not a good Labor Secretary,” “a fantastic Secretary of Labor,” and emphasized that “he’s done a fantastic job.”
RELATED STORIES:
ACOSTA’S ‘TONE-DEAF’ PRESS CONFERENCE PANNED BY LEGAL EXPERTS FOR ‘VICTIM-SHAMING’