NEW YORK — One after another, the speakers attacked President Trump’s policies as discriminatory, his rhetoric as hateful and his motivations as bigoted.
The fiery rhetoric, from nearly a half dozen Democrats who may seek the White House in 2020, came as hundreds of African-Americans gathered in New York City on Friday to contemplate the first year of the Trump presidency and to begin sizing up his possible replacement.
Trump “is what the darkness looks like,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. “He is what the darkness sounds like.”
Yet Cory Booker, one of just two black Democratic senators, cautioned his party against adopting the same divisive language about Trump that he uses against his political adversaries.
“I am tired of people allowing someone who preaches hate to turn us into haters, someone who spews darkness to make us go dark, someone who’s trying to divide make us attack other people,” Booker declared, later suggesting that poor voting rates among African Americans led to Trump’s 2016 victory.
“We did it to ourselves,” he said.
Neither Gillibrand nor Booker has declared their intentions for the 2020 presidential contest, which is barely a thought for most voters. Yet they are considered likely candidates in what is expected to be a crowded Democratic field that lines up to take on Trump.
Friday’s program also featured 2020 prospects Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and California Sen. Kamala Harris.
The ambitious Democrats are eager to connect with the black community, which plays a critical role in the presidential primary process on the Democratic side. In 2016, Sanders struggled to defeat Hillary Clinton in the party’s nomination fight partly because of his weak relationship with black voters.
He and others worked Friday to improve the relationship going forward. And Trump, who has embraced xenophobia and racism at times, was an easy target.
Sanders described Trump as “perhaps the worst president in the history of our country.” He later added a pointed message at the White House: “Mr. Trump, we are not going backward toward bigotry. We are going forward toward justice.”