NAACP: Trump should not attend Mississippi Civil Rights Museum opening

The NAACP on Tuesday announced opposition to President Trump attending the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum this weekend, saying he has created a “racially hostile climate.”

“President Trump’s statements and policies regarding the protection and enforcement of civil rights have been abysmal, and his attendance is an affront to the veterans of the civil rights movement,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement.

“He has created a commission to reinforce voter suppression, refused to denounce white supremacists, and overall, has created a racially hostile climate in this nation,” Johnson added.

The White House confirmed Tuesday that Trump will attend the museum’s opening on Saturday in Jackson, and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was “very sad” that anyone might object to his presence.

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“I think that would be, honestly, very sad. I think this is something that should bring the country together to celebrate the opening of this museum and highlighting the civil rights movement and the progress that we’ve made,” Sanders said Tuesday when asked about planned protests.

“I would hope that those individuals would join in that celebration instead of protesting it. However, they have every right to protest it,” she added.

Amos Brown, an NAACP board member and Jackson native, called Trump’s planned appearance “an insult.” 

Trump has repeatedly faced backlash for making inflammatory statements about minority groups and sparked controversy after the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., for saying that “both sides” were to blame.

He has been harshly critical of NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest racial inequality, and feuded with the father of a UCLA basketball player after he downplayed Trump’s role in securing the release of his son and two other players from China, where they had been arrested for shoplifting.