MSNBC analyst suggests that DOGE spending cuts are racist because the president used to be black

MSNBC analyst and Columbia professor Basil Smikle suggested that cuts that the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are racist during a segment from Wednesday, citing that they are attacking a government that used to be headed by a black man. 

Smikle, who regularly contributes at the left-wing outlet, told others on the panel about DOGE, "There are people who are charged with trying to find savings. So yes, it’s an attack on government, but it’s also an attack on this government. What I mean by that is it’s an attack on this government that used to be headed by a black man.

"It’s an attack on this government that almost elected a black woman to the highest office in the land," he added. "It's an attack on a government that has been more welcoming and more supporting of people who have come to this country in search of a better life."

Despite the last administration not being run by former President Barack Obama and instead former President Joe Biden, and Trump before that in his first term, Smikle claimed the DOGE cuts during Trump's second administration were an attack on the government set in place by Obama.

Additionally, Smikle appeared to claim that government, and not the vote of the people translating into the electoral college, is what drives the election of the president when he said that the government "almost elected a black woman to the highest office in the land."

Smikle is a Democratic political strategist and has been a "policy advisor for almost 20 years with local, national and international experience," according to his professor bio at Columbia University. He has previously served as Executive Director of the New York State Democratic Party and was the "second highest ranking Democrat" in New York.