President Barack Obama is inciting people toward violence in light of racial tensions stemming from the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, real estate and entertainment billionaire Donald Trump told "Fox & Friends."
"They're really inciting people to go out and do what they're doing," Trump said Monday. "You have so many other people inciting and trying to get their own two cents in, and they're trying to incite problems."
Obama was scheduled to meet on Monday with his Cabinet, civil rights leaders, and law enforcement officials to focus on problems facing communities and police departments following last week's announcement by a grand jury that policeman Darren Wilson would not be indicted for the Aug. 9 shooting.
After the grand jury announcement, Obama warned protesters against violence, but also expressed sympathy for the "overwhelming majority of people who just feel frustrated and pain, because they get a sense that maybe some communities aren't treated fairly, or some individuals aren't seen as worthy as others."
Violence erupted Nov. 24 in Ferguson following the grand jury decision, with numerous cars and businesses burned. Protests continued throughout the week in Ferguson and in cities across the country, with some demonstrators turning their efforts toward retailers to
disrupt holiday shopping.
The message from Obama and
Attorney General Eric Holder, who is also meeting on Monday to discuss race relations with civil rights leaders in Atlanta, was "very hard on law enforcement," Trump said, adding protesters were showing "tremendous hatred" in the wake of the grand jury's decision.
"They had a community that really worked, or it seemed to have worked, and now all this hatred's coming out," Trump said. "You have so many other people inciting and trying to get their own two cents in, and they're trying to incite problems."
There was a lack of leadership from the president, not only over the Brown incident, but for the plight of African-Americans, who Trump maintained had fared "very, very poorly under President Obama."
"We need leadership at the White House level. And, in all fairness, African-Americans have fared very, very poorly," he said. "You really would have thought it would have been the other. The dream that President Obama was focusing on when he first got elected, it hasn't turned out to be."
Watch the video here
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.