House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was ridiculed Tuesday for noting Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s race while blasting President Trump for trying to fire her over mortgage fraud claims — with critics arguing, “Who gives a flying fruitcake what color she is?”
Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, specifically pointed to Cook as being the “first black woman” ever to serve on the Fed’s governing body when accusing Trump of trying to oust her “without a shred of credible evidence that she has done anything wrong.
“To the extent anyone is unfit to serve in a position of responsibility because of deceitful and potentially criminal conduct, it is the current occupant of the White House,” Jeffries said in a statement late Monday.
“The American people are not buying your phony projection and slander of a distinguished public servant,” he added of Trump.
But critics were quick to accuse the top Dem of injecting race into the saga — and opting to ignore allegations that Cook committed mortgage fraud to potentially gain a financial advantage.
“Trump could drop multiple nuclear bombs in the United States and Democrats would release a statement about how this disproportionately impacts BIPOC,” a user raged on X, referring to the acronym for “Black, Indigenous, People of Color.”
“Like, yeah, obviously Trump is a racist and a sexist but the baseless firing of a Federal Reserve Board member is a gigantic deal that has much bigger consequences than Trump being racist and sexist towards one person.”
Another person chimed in, “Why does it always come back to race with Democrats? This is why your approval rating sucks. People are tired of the race baiting.”
Others bluntly questioned “What does her skin color have to do with anything?” and “How can you think for a moment this is only happening because it’s a black female?”
The comments came after Trump said he would be firing the embattled central bank official for alleged “deceitful and potential criminal conduct” tied to mortgages she took out in 2021.
Trump told Cook in a letter Monday that he had “sufficient cause” to fire her because she listed properties in Michigan and Georgia both as her primary residences on mortgage applications before she joined the Fed in 2022.
Mortgage rates are typically lower for primary residences as opposed to investment or vacation homes.
Trump accused Cook of having “deceitful and criminal conduct in a financial matter” and said he didn’t have any confidence in her “integrity.”
Cook has insisted Trump has “no authority” to fire her and vowed not to step aside.
“His attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis. We will be filing a lawsuit challenging this illegal action,” Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement.
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