A Republican consultant, while sitting a few feet from a silent Donald Trump, on Wednesday incorrectly accused two black journalists of killing more African Americans than the Ku Klux Klan.
Raynard Jackson, during a White House event on race relations, was in the middle of slamming media outlets and journalists when he singled out CNN's Don Lemon and MSNBC's Joy Reid. Like Mr Jackson, both cable news hosts are black.
Mr Jackson accused the duo of "putting more poison into the black community than any drug dealer."
He also contended, without any evidence, that Mr Lemon and Ms Reid are guilty of "killing more black folks than any white person with a sheet ever their face."
He appeared to be claiming both television personalities have appeared on air and not, in his view, given factual information or opinions about the black community and policies that would affect it.
Mr Trump sat a few seats to Mr Jackson's left. He made no attempt to correct him.
The KKK killed thousands of black Americans as it orchestrated years of terror, especially in the Deep South.
As the event neared a close, Mr Trump joined Mr Jackson by contending the media almost always writes negative stories about him and his presidency.
He trails Joe Biden by double digits nationally in his bid to secure a second four-year term, and behind in several key swing states. A few others that have long been GOP strongholds – Texas, Georgia and Ohio – appear to be dead heats five months before Election Day.
"The president is in big trouble," one Republican strategist said Wednesday. "There's no doubt about it."
Mr Jackson might have been trying to goad CNN and MSNBC to book him as a guest, saying: "What are you afraid to have real black Republicans [on] who know what the hell they're talking about?
