Presidential son Donald Trump Jr. condemned Jemele Hill on Wednesday after the Atlantic writer tweeted out an assassination fantasy involving President Trump and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
During the State of the Union speech, Ms. Hill in a now-deleted tweet said in response to a suggestion that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez disrupt the speech, “Nah, she gotta yell: GETCHO HAND OUT MY POCKET.”
That line refers to the 1965 shooting death of Malcolm X before a speech the estranged Nation of Islam activist was to give. It was yelled out by a conspirator to create a commotion and distract security, thus letting Nation of Islam assassins storm the stage and kill Malcolm X.
Ms. Hill, who already departed ESPN under pressure after repeated politicking critical of Mr. Trump and on racial matters in violation of the network’s social-media policies, insisted Wednesday that she was joking.
But the younger Mr. Trump wasn’t laughing.
“Hey @TheAtlantic is this acceptable from one of your writers? Do you condone it? Or will your inevitable inaction speak for itself? Asking for rational Americans,” he wrote on Twitter.
Hey @TheAtlantic is this acceptable from one of your writers? Do you condone it? Or will your inevitable inaction speak for itself?
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 6, 2019
Asking for rational Americans. https://t.co/EuLgd8Iq2z
There was no immediate response from the magazine, but Ms. Hill took to Twitter on Wednesday evening to state that she had deleted the tweet but denied that quoting a line from an assassination at a speech was a call for an assassination at a speech.
“Glad you asked,” she responded to a user who asked why she’d deleted the tweet. “When I tweeted ’GETCHO HAND OUT MY POCKET’ in no way was I suggesting any physical harm to the president. I have used this phrase many times in my Twitter history, always in lighthearted ways, and removed from the context of the movie.”
Glad you asked. When I tweeted “GETCHO HAND OUT MY POCKET,” in no way was I suggesting any physical harm to the president. I have used this phrase many times in my Twitter history, always in lighthearted ways, and removed from the context of the movie. https://t.co/2uVVCvVfAr
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) February 6, 2019
She also acknowledged Mr. Trump, saying “Please, allow me to retort” and then tweeting a similar point that she “would never call for violence against him” despite having repeatedly called him a white supremacist.
Ms. Hill also said Tuesday’s tweet and her previous usage were “always in a manner where you want to escape or distract from a situation.”
So, FYI .. i literally have used GETCHO HAND OUT OF MY POCKET a bunch of other times on Twitter, and always in a manner where you want to escape or distract from a situation. Never in a way that was harmful or malicious. pic.twitter.com/Hk7JLvwrdV
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) February 7, 2019
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.