A former Black Panther member doesn't support former President Donald Trump despite a viral interview that's being shared across right-wing social media accounts, his grandson says.
Eric Jones said his grandfather David Hilliard, a founding Black Panther member, was the victim of "senior abuse" and wasn't fully aware of what was going on when he was interviewed by a woman named Carol D. Mitchell.
In the now-viral interview, Hilliard said he knew Trump when he was a college student in the 1960s.
"Trump is a person who's a decent man, and he supported the Black Panther Party," Hilliard reportedly said. "He was someone who gave us money."
“Trump’s a friend of African Americans, and I knew Trump from the 1960s in New York, where he comes from and he’s a friend to African Americans. He’s a decent man,” he continued. “I mean he’s not a racist. He’s not a racist, fascist, white man. He supported Black people.”
Hilliard's grandson spoke out against the interview as it gained traction online and was picked up by news outlets.
“He would absolutely not be aligned with any of Trump's politics,” Jones said of his grandfather, per What I'm Reading. “People should understand that he is not a supporter of, or affiliated with anything that Trump has done in this modern era.”
Jones noted that his grandfather lives in a senior community and has dementia.
“My grandfather doesn’t support Donald Trump,” Jones wrote on social media. “This is just senior abuse. This lady really is awful for doing this.”
“The lady who interviewed my grandfather did so without any permission. This was done to take advantage of my grandfather who suffers from dementia and create a fake narrative in which he endorses/supports Trump in today’s political climate,” he added.
Jones said Hilliard doesn't even know that Trump is a politician. Hilliard's grandson explained that his grandfather has been dealing with cognitive issues since 2014.
“What makes my grandpa’s dementia particularly sensitive is the PTSD he deals with from his days with the Black Panther Party,” Jones said. “A PTSD caused by many of the policing policies that the Trump administration wishes to uphold.”
Jones said Mitchell would be receiving a cease and desist letter to prevent any further contact with his grandfather.
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