WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama scolded Donald Trump for his bleak description of the black community as recent police shootings of black men — and the violent protests that followed them — inject sensitive questions about race into the presidential contest.
America's first black president took issue with the Republican nominee's suggestion this week that "African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape than they've ever been in before, ever, ever, ever."
"I think even most 8-year-olds would tell you that whole slavery thing wasn't very good for black people. Jim Crow wasn't very good for black people," Obama said in an interview that aired Friday on ABC's Good Morning America.
The Democratic president encouraged Trump to visit Washington's new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, where the ABC interview was conducted.
"What we have to do is use our history to propel us to make even more progress in the future," Obama said.
Trump is trying to show law-and-order toughness along with empathy for African-Americans amid criticism his campaign inspires racism.
"The rioting in our streets is a threat to all peaceful citizens and it must be ended and ended now," he declared at a rally in suburban Philadelphia on Thursday night. He added: "The main victims of these violent demonstrations are law-abiding African-Americans who live in these communities and only want to raise their children in safety and peace."
Earlier in the day, however, Trump seemed to suggest that protesters outraged by the police shootings of black men were under the influence of drugs.
"If you're not aware, drugs are a very, very big factor in what you're watching on television at night," he said at an energy conference in Pittsburgh.
Trump's campaign later suggested he was talking about America's drug problem in general, not the protests that dominated cable news coverage the night before.
Neither Trump nor Clinton is expected to campaign Friday as they prepare for Monday's inaugural debate.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.