March 28, 2024

White House to screen ‘The Birth of a Nation’

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will screen D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film “The Birth of a Nation” on the White House lawn, following the annual Easter egg hunt on April 16.

“It is a great film about our great country,” the president said during the press conference. “It’s a great way to celebrate our Christian heritage.”

The film, which is a silent epic drama with a length of over three hours, is based on Thomas Dixon Jr.’s 1905 book “The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan.”

David Duke, former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, praised the president’s decision saying that “this is the exact kind of thing that lead me to endorse Mr. Trump during the campaign. He is a true president of the white nation.”

Trump later tweeted a thank you to Duke for his “kind words.”

When he was asked about the film’s controversial portrayal of black men as unintelligent and sexually aggressive toward white women, the President said, “I am the least racist person there is. Nobody respects minorities more than me. I’d love for some of D.C.’s black residents to come and watch.”

He went on to ask of the African American reporter who had posed the question, “do you know anyone who’d like to come? Perhaps some friends of yours?”

This will actually be the second time that “The Birth of a Nation” will be screened at the White House, the first being under President Woodrow Wilson, who President Trump said is one of his favorite presidents.

“Wilson was a winner, and when he was president America was winning,” Trump said. “And I’m a winner too, so now that I’m president we will win again too. Bigly.”

Author

  • Luke Anderson

    Luke Anderson was Editor-in-Chief of the Chimes for the 2016-17 academic year. He is a political science major (class of 2017), and former staff reporter at the Chimes.

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