Founder of the Black Panthers did not support Trump, says grandson

TThe grandson of a founding member of the Black Panther Party said his grandfather does not support former President Donald Trump, saying a viral video interview of the activist who purportedly endorsed Trump was misleading.

On Tuesday, Eric Jones responded to the viral video posted on Sunday, sharing on X that he was working to remove it because it misrepresented his grandfather, David Hilliard, former chief of staff for Black Panther Party. The original video was posted on TikTok by a woman named Carol Mitchell, who asked Hilliard how he met Trump and his thoughts on the presidential candidate. The video was circulated by right-wing social media accounts and some news outlets, which reported that Hilliard expressed support for Trump. But Jones said in your own video alongside her grandfather that Mitchell was “misrepresenting” her grandfather’s views on the former president and threatened to obtain a cease and desist order against her.

“My grandfather, David Hilliard doesn’t even know Trump is a politician,” Jones said in a post on X. “He has been dealing with cognitive issues since 2014. He can only remember the past.”

Mitchell posted the original video on Sunday. The video has already been knocked down from his TikTok account, but in a reposted version of the video, Mitchell can be seen asking Hilliard about Trump.

“I want you to meet someone who met Donald Trump and he will tell you about Donald Trump in his own words,” Mitchell said in the video, before handing the phone to Hilliard.

“I met Trump when Trump was a college student in New York and he supported the Black Panther Party,” Hilliard said in the video.

After being questioned, Hilliard said in the video that Trump was “a decent man” and “a friend of African Americans.” He went on to say that Trump is “not racist.”

“In your opinion, sir, in your valuable opinion, why do you think they put all these accusations on Trump and are afraid of him being president?” Mitchell asked Hilliard in the video.

“Because Trump likes Africans in America. He likes black people,” Hilliard responded. “I think Trump is qualified in a very decent approach to having someone represent America.”

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Mitchell went on to say that he agreed with Hilliard and thought that “Trump would be able to get us out of this government thing” and “get us to make our own money.”

After the video went viral, Jones condemned Mitchell for making and posting the video.

“My grandfather doesn’t support Donald Trump,” he said on X. “This is just elder abuse. This lady is really horrible for doing this.”

He posted a video in which he appeared with his grandfather, clarifying that Hilliard only spoke about Trump in the context of knowing him in the past.

“This is purely speaking in terms of the past — it is not a nod of support to any of today’s political climate and to Donald Trump or any other candidate,” Jones said in the video.

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