President Donald Trump has seized on the controversy in Virginia, where Democratic Governor Ralph Northam is facing calls to resign after a blackface photo appeared under his name in his medical school yearbook. The state’s attorney general, Mark Herring, has also admitted to wearing blackface in the past.

African Americans are very angry at the double standard on full display in Virginia! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2019

“African Americans are very angry at the double standard on full in display in Virginia,” Trump tweeted.

Twitter has not given him the praise for this tweet he may have been looking for. Instead, many have pointed out Trump’s history of racism against African Americans.


Political journalist and commentator Roland Martin noted that Trump has yet to atone for propagating the racist birther lie against former President Obama. Before he ran for president, Trump was the most well-known person to suggest Obama wasn’t eligible to be president and claimed to have the proof (he did not have proof).

African Americans are still ticked with you @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS @MELANIATRUMP for the failure to apologize to @BarackObama for racist birther attack. We have NOT forgotten! https://t.co/uQgkSTg7be — rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) February 10, 2019

Trump was also reminded of his acts against the Central Park Five, who were falsely convicted of committing sexual assault on a jogger in 1989. Trump spent $85,000 on full-page advertisements in major New York City newspapers calling for the execution of the men.

When Trump was confronted about his actions during the 2016 campaign, he doubled down and claimed they were still guilty despite DNA evidence proving their innocence. “They admitted they were guilty,” he said at the time, perhaps not understanding how police can often pressure innocent individuals into making confessions.

Trump has some nerve to talk about African Americans in Virginia when he’s the one who made viscious false accusations against the Central Park 5. And both Trump and the Republicans waged some kind of doxxing information warfare campaign in Virginia. — Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) February 10, 2019

Trump’s business history also had plenty of racist elements to it, as Trump denial of rental applications to black people in New York City were so frequent he was investigated and subsequently sued by the Department of Justice. This, too, was brought to his attention on Twitter.

You marked rental applications by African-Americans with a "C" for "colored" to deny them apartments. DoJ sued you for racial discrimination. Twice. You settled. Twice. You refused to denounce the KKK. You tweeted fake black crime stats from a white supremacist site. SIT DOWN! — Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) February 10, 2019

And of course, there are Trump’s actions as president.

After the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, Trump blamed “both sides” for the violence, despite anti-racist activist Heather Heyer losing her life when a white supremacist hit her with a car. Trump also has shown a callous attitude toward immigrants from African nations, saying they come from “shithole countries”.

African Americans are also angry about a President who defends Nazis in Charlottesville. A President who calls African nations “shit hole countries.” A President with a record of discriminatory rental practices. A President who is a goddamn racist. Glass houses, Donald. — MatthewDicks (@MatthewDicks) February 10, 2019

The president may have sent his tweet thinking he would score political points, but instead he gave us all revealing trip down memory lane.