Al Sharpton compares White House UFC event to entertainment for slave owners
Al Sharpton sparked backlash after comparing a planned UFC event at the White House celebrating America’s 250th birthday to entertainment once enjoyed by slave owners.
Rev. Al Sharpton accused President Donald Trump and Republicans of trying to return the country to a more racist era during a Thursday appearance on MS NOW's "Morning Joe," tying the dispute over redistricting to Trump's planned UFC event on the White House lawn and his admiration for Andrew Jackson.
"Trump and others are trying to bring us back to an America that we struggled to get out of," Sharpton said.
Sharpton argued that Trump’s embrace of a White House UFC event was connected to the same politics behind the redistricting fight.
"So there is a connection of why they’re having these fights on the White House lawn," Sharpton said. "UFC and all that, because they’re trying to go back to that when, you know, they watched people have these fights for the slave masters, and they’d be entertained by that."
Al Sharpton argued on MS NOW that President Donald Trump’s political agenda reflects an effort to return the country to an earlier era of American history. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
"They’re literally going back to that."
Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski connected Sharpton's comments to immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
"Look at these raids," Brzezinski said. "It’s playing out on America’s streets."
Sharpton also pointed to Trump’s Oval Office decor during his first term as evidence of what he described as the president’s political vision.
During a Morning Joe appearance, Al Sharpton linked the fight over redistricting and Trump’s planned White House UFC event to broader concerns about the nation’s direction. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR CLAIMS 'DARK' TRUMP SUPPORTERS ENJOY WATCHING ICE ACT LIKE 'SLAVE CATCHERS'
"Let’s not forget, one of the things that I think slips a lot of people, when Donald Trump first was elected in 2016, Mika, in 2017, when he went in the Oval Office, one of the first things he did was hang a picture of President Andrew Jackson," Sharpton said.
Sharpton noted Jackson's history as a slave owner and his role in elevating Roger Taney, the chief justice who wrote the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision.
Sharpton pointed to Trump’s admiration for President Andrew Jackson as he criticized what he described as attempts to revive a past America that civil rights activists fought to change. (Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
WHITE HOUSE RIPS EX-WHITE STRIPES SINGER FOR SLAMMING TRUMP OVAL OFFICE REDECORATING AS 'GAUDY'
"Andrew Jackson was a slave-owning president who nominated Judge Roger Taney to the Supreme Court," Sharpton said. "Taney became the chief justice that saw the Dred Scott decision passed."
Sharpton questioned why Trump’s decision to prominently display Jackson was not scrutinized more at the time.
"Why didn’t anybody ask Trump? Andrew Jackson, I don’t even remember reading about him in elementary school," Sharpton said.
UFC President and CEO Dana White recently insisted that the upcoming plans for a UFC fight at the White House for the America 250 celebration in June is not "political." (Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
Sharpton argued that Jackson's presence in Trump's Oval Office symbolized a broader agenda.
"Why Jackson?" Sharpton asked. "That’s the kind of country he wants us to go back to, Andrew Jackson, and we must resist that with all we have."
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The UFC event is scheduled for June 14 on the White House South Lawn as part of celebrations marking America's 250th anniversary.
Fox News reached out to the Trump administration for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
