On Friday, in a speech bragging about the jobs report, President Donald Trump said it was a “great day” for George Floyd, the Black man who died after being pinned down by a Minneapolis police officer.
On Monday, Spike Lee had a director’s note for the president.
“You should not be speaking about our brother,” Lee said during a powerful interview on “The Tonight Show.”
In the “Tonight Show” segment, which also included a showing of Lee’s short film “3 Brothers,” a tribute to George Floyd, Eric Garner and Michael Stewart, the legendary director talked about how he’s been encouraged by the wave of anti-racism protests.
“I’m very enthusiastic that people around the world were galvanized by the horrific murder of George Floyd in saying, ‘No, no, no.’ And also, I think that people are going to come out to vote. I’m talking about specifically United States of America, people are going to come out and vote and say hell no to Agent Orange,” Lee said, using his nickname for Trump.
The director went on to say that the upcoming presidential election could be the most important in the modern world, adding that if Trump is reelected the “world is in peril.”
“They had to talk him down for siccing national armed forces on peaceful Americans. And it’s like this guy has never even heard of the Constitution of the United States of America,” Lee said.
Later, talking about Trump invoking Floyd’s name for the jobs report boast, Lee added: “If I may say, sometimes I just think that he should just be quiet. Him, to talk about ― to speak for George Floyd looking down from heaven saying that this is a great day in America? Just don’t say nothing! Stop.”