Wednesday on CNN’s “Newsroom,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said President Donald Trump was unleashing racism in American during a discussion about Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) racist statements.

When asked about Trump telling reporters he did not know about King’s remarks, Meeks said, “That’s just ridiculous. Here’s a president that watches television all the time, looks at the news all the time and yesterday he said he didn’t know what was going on. That’s like when he said he didn’t know who David Duke was. He was hesitant in making statements because he doesn’t want to disturb that part of the support that comes from the racist mentality and has the same beliefs and believe the same thing that Steve King said. That’s what he’s had in his campaign and said about Charlottesville—good people on both sides. So it’s a weak argument.”

He continued, “Unfortunately, in the United States of America we have not. All Americas have not all been against racism. And this president has brought it back where it seems to be that it’s okay. We have had individuals who were marching in Charlottesville, clear memories of the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis who did not even feel threatened enough to cover their faces anymore. So racism is still alive and well in the United States of America, and we have a president that seems to help unleash it and get people feeling they can come out of the closet with that kind of racism.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN