Donald Trump explains his plan to heal America's racial divide to Bill O'Reilly
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
On Tuesday, President Obama and former President George W. Bush spoke movingly about the shooting of five Dallas police officers last week and the racial tensions that led up to those murders. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump got his chance to weigh in on Tuesday's O'Reilly Factor on Fox News. "Do you believe there's a problem between black and whites in America, generally speaking?" Bill O'Reilly asked Trump. "Sadly, there would seem to be," Trump said. "Hopefully it can be healed. We have a divider as a president ... and it's probably not been much worse at any time."
O'Reilly asked if, were he to be elected in November, Trump has a "plan to lessen racial tensions, and if so, what is it?" "Well, one thing is spirit," Trump said. "I mean, we don't have spirit — the country doesn't have any spirit, Bill ... We need a cheerleader, not a divider. We have a divider. We need a cheerleader." O'Reilly nudged Trump back on track, saying there are "still some black Americans who believe that the system is biased against them," and asked what Trump would say to them. "Well, I've been saying, even against me, the system is rigged," he said, pointing to his run for the Republican nomination. "That's not going to lift anybody's spirits," O'Reilly interjected." "What I'm saying is, they're not necessarily wrong," Trump explained. "I can relate it, really, very much to myself."
"Do you think you understand the African-American experience?" O'Reilly asked. "Well, I'd like to say yes, but you really can't unless you're African-American," Trump said, but "I do understand what goes on in life," and as president he would offer economic solutions. Trump said the on-camera police killings of black men in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Baton Rouge last week "were terrible — I thought it was a terrible, disgusting performance that I saw," and suggested they were due to lack of training, "bad people," or officers choking. "Do you believe that there is a problem in American policing, whereby blacks are treated differently than whites?" O'Reilly asked. "It could be," Trump said, but when O'Reilly asked him about Black Lives Matter, Trump said the group is "dividing America" and "they're hurting themselves." Watch Trump weigh in on America's racial divide, and whether he thinks Obama is purposefully divisive, in the video below. Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
‘Restaurateurs have become millionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Earth is rapidly approaching a ‘hothouse’ trajectory of warmingThe explainer It may become impossible to fix
-
Health insurance: Premiums soar as ACA subsidies endFeature 1.4 million people have dropped coverage
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC headSpeed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
