Filmmaker Spike Lee said Monday Donald Trump was trying capitalize on the shooting death of Nykea Aldridge, cousin of Chicago Bulls player and NBA star Dwyane Wade.
“He should be giving condolences to the Wade family from the first tweet,” the director told Anderson Cooper on “Anderson Cooper 360.” “To me, that just shows where his heart is.”
Donald Trump tweeted Saturday that tragedies like the shooting death of Wade’s cousin are one of the reasons African-Americans will vote for him.
“Dwayne Wade’s cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!” he tweeted, initially misspelling Wade’s first name.
Lee, who directed “Chi-Raq,” a film about the violence in Chicago, said people should not get “caught up on what his is saying.”
“What happens in Chicago is way bigger than Donald Trump who is just trying to capitalize on it.”
At recent campaign rallies, Trump has cited problems in American inner cities as a reason for African-Americans to vote for him in November.
“You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58% of your youth is unemployed — what the hell do you have to lose?” Trump asked an audience in Dimondale, Michigan.
Lee told Cooper he believes Americans are smarter than to go for his pitch.
“I don’t think he cares about anybody but himself,” Lee said. “He can reach all he wants. That’s not going to work, in my opinion.”