Trump says civil rights protections left white people “very badly treated”

President Trump told The New York Times in an interview that he believed civil rights-era protections had resulted in white people being "very badly treated," and described the outcome as a form of "reverse discrimination." When asked whether protections that began in the 1960s had resulted in discrimination against white men, Mr.

Trump said "a lot of people were very badly treated," adding: "White people were very badly treated, where they did extremely well and they were not invited to go into a university to college." He also said the civil rights era "accomplished some very wonderful things, but it also hurt a lot of people — people that deserve to go to a college or deserve to get a job were unable to get a job." The remarks were presented in the article as a distillation of his administration's racial politics, which the piece said rest on the belief that white people have become the real victims of discrimination.

The story noted Mr. Trump has equated diversity with incompetence and inferiority, cast himself as a protector of white people, ordered the dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion offices early in his term and last year directed federal agencies to halt enforcement of "core tenets" of the Civil Rights Act.

Asked whether his immigration agenda was aimed at making the country whiter, Mr.

Key Topics

Politics, Donald Trump, Eeoc, Civil Rights Act, Andrea Lucas, Jd Vance