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Black Caucus Members Slam Trump’s Debate Performance

Rep. Barbara Lee calls presidential race a 'referendum on bigotry'

New York Rep. Gregory W. Meeks called Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's birther remarks "racist." (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
New York Rep. Gregory W. Meeks called Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's birther remarks "racist." (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Tuesday slammed Donald Trump for his debate performance Monday night, particularly his views on criminal justice and for continuing to promote untruths about President Barack Obama’s place of birth.

Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, the chairman of the CBC’s political action committee, criticized the Republican presidential nominee’s remarks about Obama’s birth certificate as “racist.”

“He owes the American people an apology,” he said. “His answers surely indicates he must still believe it.”

All of the members of the caucus who spoke on the media call highlighted that Tuesday was National Voter Registration Day, which comes, Meeks pointed out, on the heels of the opening of the National Museum on African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

California Rep. Barbara Lee called the presidential race a “referendum on bigotry.”

“Secretary Clinton was very clear on the unfinished business of race in America,” she said, and she criticized Trump for speaking about race relations by talking about “law and order.”

Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore spoke about attempts to purge voters from rolls in various states or limit Sunday voting, which some see as an effort to suppress African-American votes.

“They are our enemies,” she said. “This is a day where they are doubling down on our efforts to vote.”

The Congressional Black Caucus’s PAC endorsed Hillary Clinton in February.

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