Deutsch: “You can’t say the president is a racist? You can’t say that?”

Q. How do you know that Charlottesville has caused the left to utterly lose its mind?

A. When Al Sharpton—Al Sharpton!—gets attacked by a fellow liberal for refusing to go far enough in his condemnation of President Trump.

Today’s Morning Joe offered the spectacle of Donny Deutsch—a quintessential Upper West Side/Hamptons liberal—attacking Sharpton for refusing to label Trump a “racist.” Deutsch accused Sharpton of “dancing around” the issue by merely saying that Trump “plays to” racism. Deutsch:

“Don’t you need to now come out . . . He’s a racist! Can you say he’s a racist? . . . You can’t say the president is a racist? You can’t say that?”

Sharpton argued that he didn’t want to be Trump’s psychiatrist and put him on a couch, preferring instead to focus on his policies. When Deutsch continued to press his demand, Sharpton eventually had enough:

“Wait a minute, Danny [sic]: I’ve been fighting this all my life.”

Sit back with plenty of popcorn handy, and watch Donny try to out-virtue signal Sharpton.

AL SHARPTON: He has played on divisiveness. He’s played on the part of New York City racial politics that defeated Dave Dinkins. . . . DONNY DEUTSCH: Reverend, but you’re even dancing around it. We’ve done this for years, where “he plays to it” versus saying he is. Don’t you need to now come out. Enough is enough. He plays to it. He’s a racist. Can you say he is a racist? Can you say he is a racist? SHARPTON: No, I’m not. The reason why I think you trivialize is it — DEUTSCH: I’m not — SHARPTON: Wait a minute, Danny [sic]. I’ve been fighting this all my life. Don’t tell me. I’ve been fighting this a long time. They want us to make it just—then we’re going to debate on Donald Trump. Is he a racist? He is a proponent of racism. He has been one to sell that. I’m not trying to be his psychiatrist. DEUTSCH: What’s the difference? SHARPTON: The difference is I don’t want to put him on a couch and deal with his psychological personal problems. . . . DEUTSCH: You can’t say the president is a racist? You can’t say that? SHARPTON: I think that you minimize — DEUTSCH: I think you maximize. SHARPTON: I think you trivialize it, because you make it Donny or Al against Donald.



