Former Barack Obama administration National Security Adviser Susan Rice appeared on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports on Friday and spoke about the resignation of Mary Elizabeth Taylor, former assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs under Donald Trump’s administration. As reported by Breitbart , Taylor’s departure was sparked by the president’s response to the escalating racial tensions in the country.
Mitchell highlighted the personal and direct nature of Taylor’s resignation, which specifically named the president. In response, Rice praised Taylor’s decision to leave the Trump White House.
“Well, I guess, Andrea, I would say better late than never,” Rice began.
“You know, to serve an administration which has been racist to its core for the last three-and-a-half years, from comparing the peaceful protesters at Charlottesville to white supremacists, call white supremacists very fine people, all the way through to the recent weeks where the administration has disparaged the Black Lives Matter movement, disparaged peaceful protesters, and made plain they prefer to stand by a Confederate legacy than a modern America, it’s been an administration whose record on race is just disgraceful.”
Nevertheless, Rice claimed that the Trump administration’s response to the recent escalation in racial tensions is “not that different” from the approach to governance they have exhibited over the course of the president’s term.
According to Business Insider , Taylor, who was one of the highest-ranking African Americans in the Trump administration, claimed in her resignation letter that the president’s “comments and actions” amid the current civil unrest ran contrary to her “core values and convictions.” Conversely, she showed gratitude to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to whom she sent the letter.
According to economist Robert Reich, Trump uses racism to deliberately stoke division — something he claims benefits the corporations who continue to amass wealth as the public are distracted by these divisions. In a piece for The Guardian , Reich argued that the solidarity many large companies have shown for African Americans is all for show and pointed to their roles in pushing racist policies and initiatives under cover of Trump-fueled unrest.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Trump is allegedly unsure of how to approach the current racially charged landscape. According to one White House political adviser, the president was previously hesitant to engage with racial issues because he was scared of being labeled a racist. In addition, there is allegedly a clash in the White House over the right approach to take in the current political environment — attacking the Black Lives Matter movement or leading the way on issues like race and law enforcement.
