EXCLUSIVE — WATCH: Kwame Jackson on Donald Trump: "That is how Hitler rose to power"

Salon sat down with the Season 1 "Apprentice" runner-up to talk about Donald Trump, race and the election

By D. Watkins

Editor at Large

Published October 12, 2016 8:00PM (EDT)

Last week the Salon crew traveled up to Harlem for a conversation with entrepreneur and motivational speaker Kwame Jackson, the runner up on Season 1 of NBC’s “The Apprentice.” The 42-year-old businessman, who’s had a decade-plus relationship with Donald Trump, gave us some valuable insight into the Republican nominee, and why Jackson doesn’t want you to vote for him on Election Day.

“Trump has been a master of taking advantage of that reactionary voter," Jackson said. "That is how Mussolini rose to power. That is how Hitler rose to power.”

Jackson explains how Trump uses age-old political tools like race-baiting and the false resurgence of the classic (white) American dream as a tool to gain votes -- and how these tricks might earn him a seat in the Oval Office.

Watch the full interview above.


By D. Watkins

D. Watkins is an Editor at Large for Salon. He is also a writer on the HBO limited series "We Own This City" and a professor at the University of Baltimore. Watkins is the author of the award-winning, New York Times best-selling memoirs “The Beast Side: Living  (and Dying) While Black in America”, "The Cook Up: A Crack Rock Memoir," "Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised: A Memoir of Survival and Hope" as well as "We Speak For Ourselves: How Woke Culture Prohibits Progress." His new books, "Black Boy Smile: A Memoir in Moments," and "The Wire: A Complete Visual History" are out now.

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