Trump shill: Intern class 'diverse' because it had 3 kinds of white people

The Trump administration’s lack of diversity is so widespread that it even extends to the White House intern program.

On Monday, Trump posed for a photo with the Spring 2018 class of White House interns, which drew criticism for the overwhelmingly white makeup of the group. On MSNBC Live Sunday morning, host Alex Witt asked former Bush speechwriter Jennifer Grossman to comment on the criticism.

“The most important thing is the content of our character and what’s in our heads and our ideas and our thoughts, not the color of our skin,” Grossman said.

“You probably have Republicans, you probably have conservatives, social Republicans, libertarians,” Grossman added. “So I am a little concerned about wanting to create campuses or intern class in which everybody looks different but thinks the same.”

Guest Roland Martin responded by suggesting that Grossman not quote Dr. King so selectively, and was repeatedly interrupted so Grossman could accuse him of “bullying.”

“Here is the point,” Martin said. “By 2020, more than a majority of America’s children under 18 will be minority. We will be a majority minority country by 2043. You look at Trump’s judicial appointees, 92% are white. And so, when you look at this class, these are future leaders.”

“So if you have a class that is largely absent of minority people, these are the folks who will be leaders in the next 10, 15, 20 years,” Martin added. “You better have a diversified class to lead a diversified America, otherwise you’re going to have the same problems.”

Martin is correct, Trump’s judicial appointees do not include even a single black or Hispanic woman, and that lack of diversity is reflected throughout his administration.

This is also the second year in a row that Trump has taken criticism for an overwhelmingly white intern photo op. That first one took place before Trump praised white supremacists and repeatedly defended monuments to the Confederacy, and before his feud with black NFL players escalated to attacking them during the State of the Union address.

In fact, the 2017 photo was taken days before Trump demanded an increase in police brutality during a law enforcement speech. Those incidents, on top of Trump’s existing penchant for hiring fellow white supremacists at the White House, probably didn’t help diversify Trump’s application pool.

Pointing out the gradients of white is a creative way to defend Trump, but it is increasingly unnecessary, as Trump and his Republican allies are barely even pretending to care about diversity any more.