WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump launched a fiery response Sunday against radio host Charlamagne Tha God, accusing the media personality of ignorance and attacking him personally after critical comments made on a Fox News program. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that Charlamagne “knows nothing about me or what I have done,” and called him a “dope” for supporting Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
The clash stemmed from an appearance by Charlamagne, whose real name is Lenard McKelvey, on My View with Lara Trump, a show hosted by Trump’s daughter-in-law and former Republican National Committee co-chair. Asked to rate Trump’s presidency, Charlamagne replied, “I wouldn’t give it a good rating simply because the least of us are still being impacted the worst.”
Charlamagne acknowledged he had personally benefitted from Trump-era tax breaks but said those same policies harmed millions. “Anything that takes away Medicaid from people and will put people in a worse financial situation than they were previously in, I’m not for,” he added.
The radio host went further, suggesting a brewing internal power shift within the Republican Party. He speculated that traditional conservatives could reclaim the party by using the controversy around Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. “This Epstein thing is going to be a way for traditional conservatives to take their party back,” he said. “For the first time, they can probably take their party back and not piss off the MAGA base.”
The Epstein case has resurfaced in the news after the Justice Department’s recent announcement that no further documents from the investigation would be released. The decision has angered conspiracy theorists and Trump supporters, many of whom suspect a government cover-up. Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, but the case continues to attract attention due to his connections to powerful figures, including Trump.
Trump, escalating the feud, labeled Charlamagne a “racist sleazebag” and criticized his use of “God” in his professional alias. “Can anyone imagine the uproar there would be if I used that nickname?” Trump wrote.
Charlamagne responded during the show by defending his evenhanded criticism of political figures, noting he had also “given President Biden the same hell” when the Democrat failed to meet expectations.