Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) criticized President Trump's administration Friday, tying it to the Jim Crow laws that protected racial segregation in the decades after the Civil War.

Giving his opening statement during a town hall at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, Jeffries defended former President Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaThe Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Don't expect a government check anytime soon Trump appointees stymie recommendations to boost minority voting: report Obama's first presidential memoir, 'A Promised Land,' set for November release MORE's tenure while contrasting it with the current administration.

"While Jim Crow may be dead, he's got some nieces and nephews that are alive and well. And a few of them are running around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," Jeffries said to laughs and cheers from the audience.

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Jeffries blasted Trump for saying that he "inherited a mess" when he took office, arguing that Obama was the one who "inherited a mess" from his predecessor only to around the country before Trump took over.

Jim Crow was a blanket term for laws, mostly in the South, that disenfranchised blacks and maintained white control over most of civic life from after the Civil War until the success of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Jeffries' office did not return a request to comment on his statement.

Jeffries also blasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status White House officials voted by show of hands on 2018 family separations: report MORE's positions on police brutality and racial inequality.

"We have basically gone from a situation where we had an progressive attorney general in in Eric Holder Eric Himpton HolderThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump's rally risk | Biden ramps up legal team | Biden hits Trump over climate policy Biden campaign forming 'special litigation' team ahead of possible voting battle Pompeo, Engel poised for battle in contempt proceedings MORE to a progressive attorney general in Loretta Lynch to a disaster and a 'good-ole boy' in Jeff Sessions. Obviously, we've turned back the clock," he said, adding that Sessions should be on trial for perjury after accusations he lied to the Senate about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.