Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton is blasting President-elect Donald J. Trump for not adding Black leaders to his cabinet selection so far, The Hill reports.
During a segment of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Sharpton pointed out that Trump has yet to announce anyone Black to his controversial panel. The National Black Network founder blasted the GOP leader for courting Black voters during the campaign but promoting a predominantly white Cabinet in the two weeks following the 2024 Election Day results. “We should ask Donald Trump, you talked about Black men would be with you, where’s the Black man being nominated by you for your cabinet? Has anyone noticed there’s no Black has been nominated on his cabinet? That needs to be raised,” he said.
“Rather than who’s talking, let’s deal with what we’re talking about.”
Several Black Trump supporters and legislators trailed along with the four-time indicted businessman to push for voter support. Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson all highlighted Trump as the right candidate for the job. However, none have been named as potential cabinet nominees. Other names mentioned promoted red flags on Capitol Hill before the president-elect is even inaugurated.
Anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services despite his history of spreading heavy COVID-19 misinformation. Tulsi Gabbard, once a Democratic presidential candidate, was named a nominee for director of national intelligence, and former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is under federal investigation for sex with minors, has his name thrown in for attorney general.
The only person of color named for a cabinet position is failed GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy as co-leader of the “Department of Government Efficiency” — a made-up agency where he will work alongside billionaire Elon Musk. Sharpton feels the lack of Black appointees is telling, given the President-elect’s troubling history of harsh comments toward Black Americans. “Right now, it appears that the self-proclaimed ‘best president for Black America since Abraham Lincoln’ has lost interest in us,” the reverend said.
“The president-elect needs to put his money where his mouth is if he wants to deliver for Black America.”
Select comments have prompted the civil rights leader to host a protest of Trump’s inauguration scheduled for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 20, 2025. According to the New Pittsburgh Courier, Sharpton’s rally will be on the same day and time and has been described as nonviolent, unlike the Jan. 6 insurrection. “While Trump supporters will be on one side of Washington watching him take the oath of office, I will be at the nation’s capital working to keep the dream alive,” he said.
“There has never been a more important time to peacefully organize and mobilize.”
The goal of the protest is to cater to people who “still believe in what Dr. King stood for.” Trump has caused issues by falsely claiming his 2016 inauguration speech drew the same number of people to the National Mall as the legendary “I Have a Dream” speech. He also compared former North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to the civil rights icon.
Sharpton says now is the time to fight, so “we won’t go back.” “We fought too hard. We suffered too long. We took too many beatings. We spent too many nights in jail. We’ve been to too many funerals,” he said.