Donald Trump Jr. says his dad isn't racist because of 'all of the rappers' he's friends with

Donald Trump Jr.
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/RWW Blog)

Donald Trump Jr. sat for an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller last month, where he was charged with the familiar task of defending his father against allegations of racism. In the interview, which The Daily Caller published Sunday, the president's eldest son declared that the efforts to tar President Trump and his supporters with the brush of racism and sexism were "terrible."

The real shame, Trump Jr. insisted, is that the frequent criticisms of his father are in fact undermining the individuals who are "actually" affected by "real" discrimination. "If [saying something is racist or sexist] is your response to any argument you can't win, you actually do a real disservice to those people actually afflicted by it," Trump Jr. said. He warned: "You can only overplay your hand so many times before people start calling your bluff."

Besides, Trump Jr. said, his father is anything but racist. The dutiful son noted his father's various relationships with rappers to prove the point: "I know him. I've seen him my whole life," he said. "It's amazing, all the rappers ... all his African-American friends from Jesse Jackson to Al Sharpton … I have pictures [of my dad] with them." Trump is only accused of racism because of his political leanings, Trump Jr. claimed, saying that "it was only until he got into politics that all of a sudden [people said], 'Oh, he's the most terrible human being in the world.'"

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During his presidential campaign, Trump called Mexican immigrants rapists and accused a U.S.-born judge of being biased against him because of his Mexican heritage. As president, he reportedly referred to several African states as "shithole countries." Watch an excerpt of the Daily Caller interview, obtained by Right Wing Watch, below. Kelly O'Meara Morales

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Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.