President Donald Trump, a native of Queens, New York, and a longtime Knicks fan, announced plans to attend an NBA finals game at Madison Square Garden. As expected, Trump’s New York political enemies pounced. But take a look at the resume of Trump’s New York critics.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said, “It’s not clear to me that Donald Trump is a big Knicks fan. I mean, does this guy even know the difference between Karl Rove and Karl Anthony Towns? I don’t think so. He’s just injecting himself.”
But NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called Trump a lifelong fan, saying Trump “was a fixture at Madison Square Garden. He was here all the time. He’s a genuine Knicks fan.”
Now this would be the same Hakeem Jeffries who once defended the anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan and defended his anti-Semitic uncle Leonard Jeffries, a longtime professor at City College of New York.
In April 2023, the Republican Jewish Coalition issued a statement about Mr. Jeffries: “As CNN reported this week, for years, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries lied about having only a ‘vague recollection’ of his uncle Leonard Jeffries’ nauseating antisemitism.
“The disgusting remarks Leonard Jeffries made include: comparing Jews to ‘dogs’ and ‘skunks’, saying that ‘rich Jews’ financed the slave trade, and saying that Jewish Hollywood executives ‘planned and plotted and programmed’ a conspiracy to denigrate Black Americans in films.
“… Not only was Minority Leader Jeffries well aware of his uncle’s vile antisemitism, he invited his uncle to speak on the campus of Binghamton University – and after Jewish student groups protested the visit, Jeffries led a press conference in support of his uncle, and also penned an editorial where he forcefully defended his antisemite uncle and notorious bigot Louis Farrakhan …”
Next up, New York Democrat Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said, “… Donald Trump wants to make tonight about himself, like he always does.” But consider Jay Homnick’s American Spectator article “Race to the Top.”
Homnick writes: “The fact is that Charles Schumer came to power as a New York State Assemblyman in 1974 by virtue of an overtly racist scheme that he created and sold to a naive neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. He convinced them that he would use his power to rid their area of black people. And who is my source for this serious accusation? Me. Yes, me. I was there.”
Homnick described a neighborhood in the Flatbush area: “This entire segment is populated by whites, mostly Italians and Jews, with a recent influx of Slavic immigrants. Right smack dab in the middle of this box is a series of apartment houses … whose tenants are almost 100% black.”
The blacks were causing no problems. But some racist residents wanted them out. Schumer had a plan: “If they elected him to the State Assembly, he would put forth a bill that would create a set of provisions, ostensibly to ‘help’ the underprivileged urban blacks.
“… The (black) residents would then all be relocated into government or government-subsidized housing in other areas while the apartments were being renovated. At the end of the process, the individual apartments would be redefined as co-ops or condominiums to be sold to private owners. Although on paper the current tenants would be given priority for the right to purchase the newly upgraded condos, we could be sure that – ha, ha, ha – the blacks would not be able to raise the cash required, which would be not inconsiderable.”
According to Homnick, Assemblyman Schumer implemented the plan but underestimated the means and the will of the blacks to return to their renovated housing. If such an allegation were made about Trump, the media would have done a bit of investigating.
Next up, filmmaker Spike Lee, who once said about Trump, “President Agent Orange will go down in history with the likes of Hitler.” About Trump’s plans to attend the game, Lee said: “… It’s taking the focus off. We haven’t won (a championship) since 1973! It should be about the game tonight.”
Lee, in a 1992 Esquire profile, said: “I give interracial couples a look. Daggers. They get uncomfortable when they see me on the street.” He did not deny saying it. He never apologized or walked it back. Hitler felt the same way about interracial couples.
But, hey, Messrs. Schumer, Jeffries, and Lee, enjoy the finals.
Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” click here. Follow Larry on X @larryelder.
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