BET network founder and media mogul Bob Johnson said he turned down a hint of an offer from President-elect Donald Trump to join his cabinet, according to Johnson in a CNBC interview.
"He hinted at something I could be interested in, and I quickly shut that down. It was a cabinet position," Johnson said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
Johnson said he did not plan to serve in the cabinet due to his business interests. "I can't work for the government … because to me, as an entrepreneur, trying to work in a government structure where you've got to go through 15 different layers of decision-making to get what you want done doesn't fit my mold," Johnson said.
Trump is not a racist, according to Johnson. "I never thought Donald Trump, and I still don't believe it today, was a racist. I don't believe that he's anti-African American. For too long, the African-American community has been ignored by the Republicans because they thought we were always locked with the Democrats."
The BET founder praised Trump for not looking at issues based on party affiliation. He said Trump is "certainly not an establishment Republican (and) he's not a Democrat, he was open. And he's a business guy, and business guys tend to look at where's the opportunity for a benefit."
During the interview, Johnson said he brought up to Trump a comment he made in August. While on the campaign trail, the real-estate mogul urged African Americans to support him, saying, "What do you have to lose?"
Johnson said he told Trump to focus more on the positives for African Americans, and Trump agreed that he "should be more aspirational."
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