The White House held a Black History Month event on Feb. 20. It featured golf legend Tiger Woods and rapper Kodak Black, whose prison sentence for falsifying documents to obtain weapons was commuted by Trump in 2021.
At the crowded reception, the president paid tribute to what he called “the generations of Black legends, champions, warriors and patriots who helped drive our country forward to greatness.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Before the president made an appearance, a group of attendees gathered at the White House, anticipating Trump’s arrival.
In a video posted to the social media platform X, conservative commentator and Newsmax2 host David Harris Jr. is seen celebrating with other Black attendees, not long after Kash Patel was confirmed as the director of the FBI.
“Here at the Black History Month celebration at the White House,” Harris Jr. says, while filming himself and the group.
“Everybody here, Kash Patel has been confirmed as FBI director!” he cheered. “Who’s ready for some heads to roll? Kash, I know you got the receipts. Hold them mother suckers accountable!”
Behind Harris Jr., attendees celebrated the news, one of whom held a cutout of Bryant’s head and shook it in front of the camera.
“Jamal, yeah. That’s right,” Harris Jr. said while laughing.
Anti-Trump Black activists and commentators immediately called out the White House attendees on social media.
Bryant, a pastor and activist based in Atlanta, has been vehemently critical of the Trump administration and anti-Black racism. Ahead of the White House event, he pledged a community-wide 40-day fast from Target after the corporation said it was going to roll back DEI efforts with the oncoming Trump administration.
Following the event, Bryant released a statement.
“To be singled out at a White House reception as a potential target to be ‘held accountable’ by the newly appointed FBI director was not on my 2025 bingo card,” he said.
“I stand firm in my commitment to speak out against this administration or any corporations that seeks [sic] to erode generations of progress among marginalized communities,” the statement continued.
Bryant also mentioned the White House cutout in a sermon titled “We Ain’t Ever Scared” the following Sunday at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.
He derided his picture being shown and insisted it should have been replaced with images of federal officials and corporate executives, who he claimed were responsible for diminishing diversity efforts and inaccessible health care.
“I ain’t ever scared, in case you forgot,” Bryant told the enthusiastic New Birth congregation. “If you got a problem, pull up on me!”
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Harris Jr., a loyal Trump supporter, went viral in June 2024 for posting a video while sitting first class on a flight and showing off the T-shirt he was wearing that read he would rather vote for a “convicted felon” than then-President Joe Biden.
The political commentator is also an author, a self-proclaimed devout Christian, an opponent of abortion, and a cofounder (along with his wife) of health and wellness company Living R3.
In an email exchange with UATL, Harris Jr. claimed his excitement for Patel’s confirmation had nothing to do with Bryant.
“My intention in making that video was to announce to the room that Kash Patel had been confirmed and there are a lot of people in government that I believe need to be held accountable,” Harris Jr. wrote.
He said that the cutout wasn’t his and he didn’t know who brought it.
“Then someone held up the Jamal Bryant sign, which in my view, had nothing to do with Kash Patel,” Harris Jr. wrote.
Credit: NYT
Credit: NYT
Harris Jr. noted that he had never met Bryant but would be interested in speaking with the pastor.
“Bryant seems to promote a version of Christianity that I do not find in the Bible,” wrote Harris Jr.
“Jesus never taught us to segregate ourselves based on the color of our skin, but rather said, that the true worshippers of God, will worship in spirit, and in truth.”
Harris Jr. then criticized Bryant’s alleged views on reproductive rights.
“The only scripture that I could find that truly reflects how Jamal Bryant teaches can be found at the very beginning of Genesis,” Harris wrote.
“In the Garden of Eden, the serpent twisted God’s words to fit its own agenda, leading to the fall of humanity. When someone distorts the truth to promote their own ideology and presents it as God’s word, they are operating in the same deceptive and demonic spirit as that original serpent.”
Bryant declined to comment on Harris’ views. He published a column with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Feb. 27.
“Let me be clear that no amount of intimidation or political pressure will silence the truth,” Bryant wrote.
“It is our collective responsibility as citizens to hold the powerful accountable, and at this critical moment, we must resist any radical actions that threaten the very foundations of our democracy.”
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