CBS host Gayle King on Thursday reacted to President Trump claiming he’s the “least racist person in the room” during the last presidential debate, referencing the age-old saying that “actions speak louder than words.”
“First I lost my hearing and then I wondered who else was in the room,” King said about Trump’s debate comments. “When you’re a little kid, your mom always tells you: ‘Actions speak louder than words.'”
King then pointed to Trump’s comments at the last presidential debate against Democratic nominee Joe Biden, in which the president directed the far-right Proud Boys group to “stand back and stand by.”
Critics and Democrats have called Trump’s comments a “dog whistle” for far-right groups.
During Thursday night’s final match-up between Trump and Biden, NBC anchor and moderator Kristen Welker asked the candidates about “the talk,” a phrase referring to the conversation that many Black Americans have with their children regarding interacting with law enforcement.
Welker, the only person of color to moderate a presidential debate this election cycle, posed the question to both Trump and Biden.
Trump simply answered “Yes, I do,” when asked if he understood the gravity of “the talk.” He then pivoted to attacking Biden for his hand in creating the 1994 crime bill.
“Nobody has done more for the Black community than Donald Trump,” Trump claimed, acknowledging that President Lincoln — who dissolved the institution of slavery — might have done more for Black Americans.
“I’m the least racist person in this room,” Trump later said.
King praised Welker for noting that families across America have had “the talk” regardless of income level “because your skin doesn’t change when you walk out of the house.”
“It would have been a really great opportunity for him to address that,” King continued.
King noted that Trump frequently points to his administration’s efforts to aid historically Black colleges and universities and the “opportunity zone” program created by Trump’s 2017 tax-cut law, which, she added is “a really good program.”
“When you don’t really figure out a way to unite this community — which is really feeling right now under siege, under siege and in a lot of pain — he never seems to really address that,” she concluded.
Biden responded to Welker’s question about “the talk” stating, “The fact of the matter is, there is institutional racism in America.”
“We have to provide … economic opportunity, better education, better health care, better access to schooling, better access to opportunity to borrow money to start businesses,” Biden continued. “It’s about accumulating the ability to have wealth, as well as it is to be free from violence.”