Herman Cain: Trump's critics can't make 'racism' claim stick

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Herman Cain: Media dividing the nation with racist rhetoric

Fox News contributor speaks out on 'Hannity'

Critics and the liberal media can’t make a claim of racism stick against President Trump, former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Wednesday on “Hannity.”

Speaking amid the controversy surrounding Trump's comments about the racially-charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend, Cain said attempts from the president's opponents to change the narrative have failed.

“They couldn’t make ‘Russia, Russia, Russia,’ stick. They couldn’t make ‘refugees, refugees, refugees,’ stick. So, now the desperate attempt is ‘racism, racism, racism,’” Cain said.

“But here’s what they don’t understand: the American people are not stupid. Those people that are supporting Donald Trump because of the results he is getting and he is trying to get are not going to persuade Trump supporters to move over to the dark side. They have not just crossed the line, they’ve gone over the cliff. And the only people that are going over the cliff with them are those people that are just as deceived and deranged as they are. That’s what this is all about,” Cain said. “It’s their desperate attempt to try and get people to follow them off the cliff.”

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Those attempts, Cain said, derive from what he's called “TDS” – Trump Derangement Syndrome.

“They are never going to get over it,” he said. “They are still stuck in ‘Hillary should have won.’ She should not have won because she was not the best candidate. They’re stuck in Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Cain added: “It’s sad, it’s unfortunate and it doesn’t help this country. But that’s what they are trying to do, is to destroy and divide this nation with all of this racist rhetoric that they are continuing to put out there.”

Oct. 18, 2011: Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain speaks with the media following a Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas. (AP)

Despite the rhetoric surrounding recent events, Cain said, the American people “are not stupid.”

“They see past this,” he stated. “The only ones that are following this racist rhetoric and this racist indication of what they think defines America are the people who are already predisposed to their position. Here’s what they don’t understand: Violence does not define America. Violence does not define who we are. They don’t understand that. The liberal media believes that if they say it often enough, over and over and over, that more people are going to fall into their camp but that simply is not happening.”

Watch the full interview above.