Conservative former NFL player says Trump met with him to discuss ‘black America’

Former NFL player and conservative commentator Jack Brewer said that he privately met with President Trump last week to discuss “black America.”

Brewer, an African American who is a frequent guest on Fox News, told ABC News that he met with the president at his Bedminster, N.J., golf course over the weekend. Their talk came amid a chaotic week in which Trump told a group of minority congresswomen to “go back” to the “crime infested places” they came from. 

{mosads}Brewer said that his goal was to “calm this wave” of tension between the black community and Trump’s administration. He said that his agenda during their discussion was criminal justice reform and how it’s affecting African Americans. 

The two did not address Trump’s recent attacks against the four minority Democratic lawmakers. 

“I came to talk about what’s been done. Thousands of black families have their dads now,” Brewer said, referring to an announcement that 3,100 inmates have been released under the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill that was signed into law last year. “I was focused on discussing issues that are making a real impact for black families in America. Period.”

Brewer added to ABC News that it “felt good hearing [Trump’s] passion.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill. 

Brewer, who played in the NFL for five seasons, now works as a philanthropist. In addition to his commentary on Fox News, he also writes columns for the conservative site Newsmax. Earlier this month, he wrote a piece titled “4 Ways Trump Has Done More For African Americans Than Barack Obama.” 

Trump sparked an uproar last week after telling four freshman House Democrats — Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) — to “go back” to where they came from before speaking out about U.S. policies. All four women are U.S. citizens, and all but Omar were born in this country.

The House voted to condemn the remarks as racist. Four Republicans, as well as Independent Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.), voted with every Democrat to approve the resolution.