Trump lawyer Michael Cohen rebuffed accusations of racism in the Trump administration by tweeting a photo montage of himself posing with black people.
On Tuesday, the president came under fire for defending white supremacists at Charlottesville in a shambolic press conference at Trump Tower. This morning, Cohen tweeted, “As the son of a holocaust survivor, I have no tolerance for #racism. Just because I support @POTUS @realDonaldTrump doesn’t make me a racist”
To illustrate this argument, he attached an eight-photo collage featuring him with African-Americans. (One them was Omarosa Manigault, a contestant on Trump’s Apprentice show turned adviser who last Friday was booed off the stage at a National Association for Black Journalists’ panel on police brutality.)
As the son of a holocaust survivor, I have no tolerance for #racism. Just because I support @POTUS @realDonaldTrump doesn’t make me a racist pic.twitter.com/lfIwdosreE
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) August 16, 2017
Speaking for many, Olivia Nuzzi, the Washington correspondent for New York magazine, tweeted, “Jesus f*cking Christ.”
Jesus fucking Christ https://t.co/8jE2w4cEn8
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) August 16, 2017
Nuzzi followed up with screenshots of a text conversation she had with Cohen.
“Did you seriously just make a collage of pictures of you with black people to prove you’re not racist?” she said.
“Trump is not a racist and neither am I. The attacks against him and all of us who support him are disgusting, disgraceful and hurtful,” Cohen responded.
“Ok but why do pictures of you with black people prove that?” said Nuzzi.
“I know President Trump and his heart. All morning I am receiving horrific comments about being anti-black, racist, etc. for supporting Trump. Wrong!” said Cohen.
Aside from that non-answer to Nuzzi’s question about Cohen’s logic, some found Cohen’s point of view unclear.
Confused: Is Cohen using personal Holocaust connection to defend the prez or distance himself from the prez?
— Matthew Rosenberg (@AllMattNYT) August 16, 2017
Cohen attracted a wave of criticism, from politicians to YouTube stars.
I don’t know if you are a racist. But I do know that your refusal to publicly disavow @realDonaldTrump makes you a coward.
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 16, 2017
The fact that you felt compelled to tweet this should tell you something
— AdamAnnapolis (@adamannapolis) August 16, 2017
look at this “look!! i have black friends” mess, you’re complicit & i hope you’re ashamed for life
— Tyler Oakley (@tyleroakley) August 16, 2017
You really just made a grid of the 10 black people you know
— Daniel Aubry (@Aubs89) August 16, 2017
Actual footage of his back friends… pic.twitter.com/cxucQhq7t3
— Cryssy McC (@mccryssy) August 16, 2017
Alternate shot of his Black friends: pic.twitter.com/IRo6153F2Z
— Theresa Donaghy (@TheresaDonaghy) August 16, 2017
Before his posting, Cohen retweeted an article that claimed “Pro-Trump pastor says Charlottesville was caused by the left-wing media.”
Cohen has run into some unusual trouble on Twitter before. In May, he tweeted a photo of his college-age daughter posing in a bra and stockings. He was widely derided but unapologetic, and the tweet is still up.