BET founder says Trump is not a racist, and stocks are right to rally post-election
Media mogul Bob Johnson, who met with President-elect Donald Trump earlier this month, told CNBC on Tuesday the post-election rally in the stock market has been a reaction to having a businessman in the White House.
The BET founder, a Democrat, also said on "Squawk Box" that he's known Trump for years and believes Trump wants to work with African-Americans and all Americans to boost the economy.
"To me, I never thought Donald Trump, and I still don't believe it today, was a racist. I don't believe that he's anti-African-American," said Johnson, founder and chairman of The RLJ Cos. "For too long, the African-American community has been ignored by the Republicans because they thought we were always locked with the Democrats."
Trump is not in either camp, Johnson said: "Certainly not an establishment Republican [and] he's not a Democrat, he was open. And he's a business guy. And business guys tend to look at where's the opportunity for a benefit."
The market is right to be optimistic about the possibility of Trump's policy proposals kicking U.S. economic growth into a higher gear, said Johnson, who had supported Hillary Clinton during the campaign.
Johnson met with Trump and top advisors Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus and Jared Kushner at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Nov. 20.