President Trump Accuses Spike Lee of "Racist Hit".
TEXT: CLOSING ARGUMENT.</s>CUOMO: Did you catch the Oscars last night? Some real advances in recognizing the Black experience and talent being rewarded, BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, If Beale Street Could Talk, Green Book was the best picture, the need to confront painful periods and hateful dynamics and move forward to a place, where we are all more embracing of differences as strengths, Bravo Oscar! Spike Lee won for Best Adapted Screenplay and said this, after jumping into Samuel L. Jackson's arms.</s>SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR, BLACKKKLANSMAN: The 2020 Presidential Election is around the corner.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>LEE: Let's all mobilize. Let's all be in the right side of history.</s>LEE: Make the right - like - make the moral choice between love versus hate.</s>LEE: Let's do the right thing.</s>CUOMO: Political? Sure. Spike Lee has zero love for this President, calls him "Agent Orange." But last night, Lee kept it positive, choosing love over hate, urging people to vote, not even invoking the President's name. So, what did the President do? This. Tweet. "Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President." First, Lee coming at the President isn't racism. Second, the President invokes racism now, and then he mocks someone for how they read a script, has he seen himself on TV? Listen, I doubt the President has seen BlacKkKlansman. But it ends with ugly scenes from the ugliness in Charlottesville, tiki torches, Nazi chants, you know, the truth that was clear for everyone except two groups, White haters and this President.</s>DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And you had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides.</s>CUOMO: Did he know what that meant to everyone, except the racists? I'd like to believe that the President of the United States just had an off-moment or he said it wrong. He doesn't mean it. But the facts slapped that fiction in the face. He sees bigotry in a pretty ecumenical sentiment from Lee. But when asked about his mentor, on immigration, and accused bigot, Congressman Steve King, you get this.</s>TRUMP: You know, I don't know anything about the situation. When did he announce that?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today he's announced (ph)--</s>TRUMP: I have not seen it. He hasn't told me anything, so, we'll - we'll have to take a look.</s>CUOMO: So this really isn't about the benefit of the doubt. The truth is I doubt there is any benefit to pretending this President doesn't love to stir the waters of division, including bigotry, and he knows that. And yet, says this.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You racist?</s>TRUMP: I am the least racist person I am the least racist person that you've ever met. I am the least racist person, the least racist person that you've ever seen.</s>CUOMO: Now, many don't count these sound bites as proof of the argument of where the President is wrong on race. But I actually find them the most instructive. Here's the argument. He knows this isn't true. He knows what he does, and he knows why he does it. So, if he isn't racist, what is he? He ignores bigotry where it is, unless literally forced to disown it, like with David Duke. You remember that? He rushes out to basically defend White Supremacists by saying there were good people on both sides. And what burned many about Charlottesville, he didn't seize on the death of Heather Heyer. He seized on both sides and Antifa, reducing the reality of the role of racism. Why? If that bigot who killed Heather were Mexican, you think this President would have been similarly silent? Be honest. No, right? He would have used it. He would have used her death as proof of a wickedness, a problem, but not here. Is entering illegally really worse than what Heather Heyer's death was about? The President played to the petty, bringing racism where it wasn't with Spike Lee. And he's poisoning us by ignoring bigotry, where it is. But while it would be great to have leadership come from the top, last night, in the Oscars, we got to see how the rest of you can make things better on your own, recognizing diversity and talent, rewarding those who speak truth about our reality. That truth, and embracing diversity, those are the best hope for America becoming greater still. And I hope that this President, if he's going to keep taking these shots, at some point, he at least owns why he does it. Just like as we always say on this show, why lie, if you have nothing to hide, why lie? That applies to Russia. It applies to some ancillary matters around that, and it applies to this too. If you're going to ignore somebody like Steve King, and ignore racism where it's staring us in the face, you should tell the American people why you do it, because it's obvious to everyone. Thanks for watching. CNN TONIGHT WITH DON LEMON starts right now.