This wasn’t the first time I had heard it.
In fact, I’ve heard it spoken as often as I’ve heard “Good morning” or “What’s for dinner?”
I’ve heard it uttered in Zoom meetings and barber shops, at dinner tables and on supermarket checkout lines.
I’ve heard it shouted at protests, sporting events and rallies and in discussions with my family and friends
But never, never have I heard it spill from the lips of a leading member of Congress.
And never has it sounded so sweet.
”F— Donald Trump.”
It probably wasn’t the first time U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spewed those three words, especially given the acrimonious history between him and President Trump.
But it was almost certainly the first time the Brooklyn congressman went all Bed-Stuy on the president, cursing Trump on Friday like he said something about his mother.
And for many Black people like Jeffries, what Trump did last week was just as egregious.
Even Republican lawmakers were shocked after Trump reshared on social media a video in which former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama were depicted as apes.
The vile video, which repeated false claims about a stolen 2020 election, showed the Obamas’ heads edited onto the bodies of apes as part of a “Lion King”-themed meme that cast Trump as “King of the Jungle.”
The full video includes other Democratic leaders, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Mayor Mamdani and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Hakuna Matata it wasn’t.
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is the only Black Republican in the Senate, said on X. “The President should remove it.”
That was quite an awakening for Scott, who usually spends every moment of every day being a Trump apologist.
The White House eventually relented and removed the video, but not before 12 hours had passed, and the damage was done.
Aboard Air Force One Friday night, Trump told reporters that he only saw part of the posted video, but not the part that included the Obamas.
Still, Trump declined to apologize for the video and suggested someone else may have posted it.
Then he continued to try to convince the world that he is not who he is.
“I am, by the way, the least racist president you’ve had in a long time, as far as I’m concerned,” Trump said. “I got the highest vote with male Black voters that they’ve seen in many, many decades. Black voters have been great to me, I’ve been great to them.”
At least one Black voter disagreed.
“This disgusting video posted by the so-called president was done intentionally,” Jeffries said. “F— Donald Trump and his vile, racist and malignant behavior
“This guy is an unhinged bottom feeder,” Jeffries added. “Every Republican sycophant who continues to stand by their cult leader should be run out of office.”
Despite Trump’s constant denials, there can be no doubt about his true nature. Whether he’s insulting immigrants from “s—hole countries,” praising white nationalists as “good people,” destroying diversity and equity initiatives or perpetuating vile stereotypes on social media, Trump has embraced his role as Divider-in-Chief.
Jeffries might face some backlash for his choice of words, but make no mistake: They were selected carefully.
Just like everything Trump has said.
For him, there is no bottom.
“The president of the United States, Donald Trump, is a racist,” Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, told CNN. “There is no question that. He has been his entire life.”
