Story highlights "Donald J. Trump has a thin, as in invisible, as in microscopic, record with improving race relations," Brooks told CNN's Wolf Blitzer Monday

"The fact of the matter is this is hateful," Brooks said

(CNN) NAACP President Cornell William Brooks on Monday condemned Republican front-runner Donald Trump and said he represents a "kind of Jim Crow with hairspray and a blue suit."

"The fact of the matter is this is hateful. It is racist. It is bigoted. It is xenophobic. It represents a kind of Jim Crow with hairspray and a blue suit," Brooks told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room." "Let's not underestimate what we're dealing with. This is a very, very ugly moment in America."

But Brooks said he doesn't hold anything against Americans who support Trump.

"I don't blame the people -- American citizens -- for their economic anxieties and a sense of desperation. The fact that their grasping at straws and they grasped onto a bigoted, demagogic billionaire speaks to their desperation, not necessarily his appeal or the strength of his platform," he said.

CNN has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment, with no response.