Donald Trump has launched a bizarre Twitter attack on Oscar-winner Spike Lee, accusing the BlackKklansman director of racism in his Oscars acceptance speech.
Accepting his award, long-time civil rights activist Lee read his speech from prepared notes, referencing February being Black History Month as well as discussing the history of slavery in his own family. He concluded: “The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilise, let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate.”
He concluded by quoting one of his own films: “Let’s do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there.”
At a press conference after the ceremony, Lee turned his attention to the 2017 Charlottesville riots, where a civil rights protester was mowed down and killed in a car driven by an far-right supporter.
The director said: "That car drove down that one street in Virginia, and the president of the United States did not reject, refute [or] denounce the Klan, ‘alt-right’ and neo-Nazis. This film, whether we won best picture or not, this film will stand the test of time being on the right side of history."
In typical Trump fashion, a Tweet emerged from the White House in the early hours of Monday morning"
He wrote: “Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes or better yet not have to use notes at all when doing his racist hit on your president.”
Trump, who is no stranger to Tweets about his own achievements, went on to claim that he had “done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts, etc) than almost any other [president]!”
Trump regularly claims to have done great things for African Americans, along with his claims to be the greatest president ever in many other areas. Many African Americans, including Lee it would appear, do not share his convictions.
On Sunday night, Lee also indicated his disappointment that Green Book, which has been criticised for its approach to its story of race relations in the south in the 1960s, won Best Picture. He initially tried to leave the theatre when the award was announced, then turned his back on the stage.
“The ref made a bad call,” he said later.
