Trump Hits Back at Spike Lee After Filmmaker’s Oscar Jab

(L) Best Adapted Screenplay winner for 'BlackKklansman' Spike Lee attends the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 91st Academy Awards at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, on Feb. 24, 2019. (JB Lacroix/AFP/Getty Images); President Donald Trump greets attendees after addressing the 2019 White House business session with governors in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 25, 2019. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump slammed filmmaker Spike Lee after Lee criticized the president in an Oscar speech on Feb. 24.

Trump took to Twitter on Monday morning to share his thoughts.

“Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts, etc.) than almost any other Pres!” Trump wrote.

Trump signed the criminal justice reform bill into law in December 2018. The legislation was championed by a number of black leaders, including many people who oppose Trump. The president and his son-in-law Jared Kushner helped push the bill through Congress.

Unemployment numbers for blacks have continued to drop through Trump’s presidency, reaching 5.9 percent late last year. Among black males, unemployment hit 3.6 percent, the lowest since February 1970.

Trump has also championed “opportunity zones“ along with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). The initiative lets investors defer taxes on capital gains by rolling them into certain areas, which is meant to facilitate investment into areas in need of revitalization.

The president’s reaction came after Lee used his Oscar speech to call for a rejection of Trump. Lee won an award for best original script for the film “Blackkklansman.”

Spike Lee speaks after winning the best script award for “Blackkklansman” as co-writer Charlie Wachtel looks on at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on Feb. 24, 2019. Kevin Winter/Getty Images

“The 2020 presidential election is around the corner,” Lee said at the podium, reading from his notes. “Let’s all mobilize, let’s all be on the right side of history, let’s choose love over hate, let’s do the right thing.”

Lee received a standing ovation.

Lee has in the past been a vociferous critic of Trump. In May 2018, for instance, he repeatedly called Trump “a [expletive]” while speaking at the Cannes Film Festival. In August 2018, Lee called the president “agent orange.”

While Lee won an Oscar, he grew upset when “Green Book” was announced as the best picture and reportedly tried to leave the ceremony before the speeches had concluded.

Lee “was visibly angry when ‘Green Book’ was announced as the winner of best picture at the Oscars, waving his arms in disgust and appearing to try to storm out of the Dolby Theatre before he was stopped at the doors. He returned to his seat when the speeches were over,” according to Associated Press reporter Andrew Dalton.

“Lee clearly was furious, got up and walked toward the back of the auditorium in a huff. He then turned back and appeared to get into an intense conversation with Jordan Peele, who was behind him,” added Deadline. “Lee paced the aisle and stormed to the back of the auditorium. When he came back, he turned his back to the stage during the speech.”

“I’m snakebit. Every time someone’s driving somebody, I lose,” Lee later said.

“The ref made a bad call.”

From NTD News