John Legend has never been shy about sharing his thoughts on Donald Trump, and he didn’t hold back in an appearance on MSNBC to discuss the state of criminal justice. During the conversation, host Jen Psaki mentioned Trump’s “First Step Act” of 2018, which reduced the size of the federal prison population while creating avenues to maintain public safety.
Though Legend credited Trump with the act, he still doesn’t give him grace for the person he is.
“He’s not been an ally,” Legend said. “I think the ‘First Step Act’ was fine. It was a very small reform, and to be honest, most of the reform we need is on the local and state level because most incarceration is local and state, and most of the laws that end up being criminally enforced are local and state laws, so very little impact can happen on the federal level.
🔥🚨BREAKING NEWS: John Legend told MSNBC that Donald Trump is a racist at his core.
Legend stated: “He's made it clear throughout his life that Black people are inferior, he believes that to his core… but also when you hear some of the stray comments he makes.
He clearly… pic.twitter.com/nhtEIEmcNB
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“At the same time he’s claiming credit for those small things, he’s also saying, ‘If people are stealing something, they should get shot in the middle of the store.’ When we protested the killing of George Floyd, he was advocating for the military to shoot us in the streets.”
Legend then says that he believes that Trump thinks Black people are beneath him.
“He’s made it clear throughout his life that he believes Black people are inferior,” Legend said. “He believes that to his core, in his bones. He wouldn’t let us live in his buildings back in the day, but also, when you hear some of the stray comments he makes, he clearly believes in a genetic hierarchy of humanity, and it’s racially determined.
“He is a tried-and-true, dyed-in-the-wool racist, like in the core of his being, he is a racist.”
