Eric Trump's defense of his father on Fox & Friends during a Wednesday morning appearance backfired, after he assured the hosts that President Donald Trump is "the least racist person I have ever met in my entire life."
Trump said the president "sees one color: green...He does not see race."
Watch:
“My father sees one color: Green. That’s all he cares about. He cares about the economy” - @EricTrump pic.twitter.com/dbiEICQkb2
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 17, 2018
Eric, who serves as the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, explained that Trump cares only about the economy.
But critics of the president, including the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics In Washington (CREW), suggested that Eric's statement sounded more like an admission that the administration is focused on policies that will make rich families—like the Trumps—even richer.
Eric Trump reveals more than maybe he meant to is saying his father only cares about money. But whose money does he care about, Eric, his own or the American people's? https://t.co/7R8Deye5m5
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) January 17, 2018
Last year, CREW mounted a lawsuit against the president alleging that by continuing to profit off his luxury hotels and golf courses while in office, Trump is violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
Instead of divesting from his business empire when he became president, Trump handed control of the Trump Organization to his sons, but he has access to the company's profits and is reportedly still involved in decisions related to his business.
Eric Trump's comments also came weeks after Congress passed the president's biggest legislative achievement of his first year in office: the Republican tax law, which the Congressional Budget Office and tax policy groups have found will disproportionately benefit corporations and the wealthiest Americans while raising taxes on working families.
On social media, other critics joined CREW in mocking Trump's defense and questioning its meaning.
Money laundering, bribes & the question of whether any of it reaches Trump himself have always been central to Mueller’s investigation. Interesting that Eric Trump noted on Fox this morning, “My father sees one color, green — that is all he cares about.” https://t.co/nfCcF5kRpM
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) January 17, 2018
"My dad’s not racist! He only cares about money," Eric Trump says as he defends his father on Fox News https://t.co/d8Pvt8uoZA pic.twitter.com/4vXzojD3OA
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 17, 2018
Eric Trump said his father isn’t racist, and he only sees one color: green. That’s BS, because when Black tenants were trying to move into Trump’s apartments in the 70’s, he didn’t want their “green”. He saw BLACK and he discriminated against them
— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) January 17, 2018
Eric Trump admits he only knows racists. https://t.co/aXjrVbFyg3
— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) January 17, 2018
Eric Trump said his dad is "the least racist person he's ever met in his entire life."
So, if you've met Eric Trump, you're more racist than the guy who avoided renting to African Americans, called Mexicans rapists, and said immigrants from Haiti "all have AIDS."
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) January 17, 2018
