Rev. Sharpton: President Trump ‘never got over an insecurity’ about Obama

[0:00] New today in a confusing new social media post, President Trump appears to be comparing himself [0:05] to former President Obama. On Saturday, Trump posted these side-by-side photos of him and [0:11] his predecessor when they were young. This comes just days after Obama criticized Trump for spending [0:16] too much time talking about him instead of focusing on the major issues affecting this [0:21] country. Look, you gotta ask him what it is that... The obsession? The obsession. I know what it is. [0:30] Yeah, what? I obviously, you know, have a room in his head. Grant-free. You do everything with grace. [0:36] A suite. The idea that I'd be worried about... Came before. Somebody who came before and me trying [0:42] to measure, you know, like, what's he done today? It shows me somebody who's not focused on the [0:48] American people and the job they're supposed to do. Let's bring in my best weekend friend, [0:54] Reverend L. Sharpton, President of the National Action Network and host of MSNOW's Politics Nation. [0:58] I love the fact that Obama was laughing there because the whole thing is just nuts, [1:04] the suite that he seems to occupy. What are your thoughts about that and why Obama is even [1:11] addressing it? Because he usually stays above the fray. Well, my thoughts are that President Trump [1:17] cannot get over the fact that he had to succeed a man that clearly had more ability, background, [1:28] a sense of presidential... More presidential, exactly. Yeah, a sense of presidential behavior [1:34] and could handle pressure in a calm way that he can't. And was better educated, better background [1:42] in terms of he coming from nothing and achieving something. And he's black. And this... All of the [1:49] things that Trump has tried to represent in life, and I've fought with him for years, Trump, [1:54] when he was a private citizen. Obama has proven to be wrong are the things that he stood for, [2:02] that he tried to play to the American public and the business community here one way. Obama proves [2:10] that with some effort and with doors open, people can achieve something. So everything Trump really [2:16] has built his life around as a businessman and then as a political figure, Obama has proven to be wrong. [2:24] So that... He just can't live with that. And I think the reason President Obama addressed it, he was... [2:32] The question was raised about it. He just opened his library and I was there. He doesn't even talk [2:39] about Trump in private. I've been around President Obama for the last several years on many occasions, [2:45] even social occasions sometimes. I've never heard him say anything about Trump, but Trump must find [2:52] a way to attack Obama. I mean, if there is a glee club... It's an insecurity, it's a... Yeah. [2:58] If it's a glee club contest and one choir wins over another, he'll mention Obama. I mean, [3:05] there's some obsession there. And I think he's deeply rooted from him growing up in Jamaica [3:11] states all the way to now. He never got over an insecurity. And Obama brings that out of him. [3:17] It's like being president of the United States and duly elected two times, just like Obama. [3:22] Well, let's talk about, speaking of elections, the Democrats and the Democratic Socialists here [3:27] in New York City, which enjoyed major wins. Look at these three. All three of them [3:32] were backed by Mayor Mom Donnie. They won their primary elections, barring any other political [3:37] surprises. In fact, they will likely win in November, right? They're going to join the 120th [3:42] Congress in January. Does this give you a sense, an idea of where the party is going? I mean, [3:48] you have to wonder, is this just a New York City phenomenon? New York City may have a different [3:53] makeup than the majority of the rest of the country, or at least those places between the coasts. [3:58] Or do you think this is something that will fly nationwide? [4:01] I think it is indicative of a feeling of a lot of voters that they want to see some change in terms [4:08] of what is to be the issues. Affordability is a concern. The whole international forays, [4:16] being too close to one side as opposed to another when we're looking at obvious atrocities. [4:23] And I think that the Democratic Socialist DSA has been able to speak to issues that challenges the [4:32] party that they must address. But I don't think that it is the earthquake that everyone says, [4:39] because there are people, even in New York, that won. The Assembly candidate in the same district that [4:47] the DSA congressional candidate won, he kept his seat. So I think that it is a wake-up call. [4:55] It is not a uniform dismissal. And I think that it is good for the party, because there needs to find [5:02] some balance between those that are saying, remember how average Americans are living, [5:08] remember working class people, and it must be this balance. And I think that leaders of the party, [5:14] like Hakeem Jeffries, will seek to try to find that balance. Sometimes it's not the, [5:21] sometimes it's the antithesis and the thesis that finds the synthesis.