New York Daily News

Housing big says Prez isn’t racist

- BY LEONARD GREENE

She went from being stuck in a NYCHA elevator to being stuck in a hopeless debate about whether President Trump is a racist.

HUD Regional Administra­tor Lynne Patton (photo) took a break Wednesday from her New York City tour of peeling paint in public housing to defend the President against charges that he is a racist.

During congressio­nal testimony from former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, Patton, a black woman, appeared at the invitation of a Republican congressma­n to refute Cohen’s claims that Trump “is a racist.”

Patton did not speak during the hearing, but stood behind U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows (RN.C.) as he demanded proof from Cohen that Trump had made racist remarks.

“You made some very demeaning comments about the President that Ms. Patton doesn’t agree with,” Meadows said. “In fact, it has to do with your claim of racism. She says that as a daughter of a man born in Birmingham, Ala., that there is no way that she would work for an individual who was racist. How do you reconcile the two of those?”

Cohen, who described himself as the son of a Holocaust survivor, said he could not even reconcile his own Trump service.

“Ask Ms. Patton how many people who are black are executives at the Trump Organizati­on,” Cohen said. “The answer is zero.”

Meadows said Patton’s “entire statement” would be put in the Congressio­nal Record.

Patton, meanwhile, gave a preview on her Instagram page, where she posted a picture with Cohen, one of her “very best friends for the past 10+ years,” who personally introduced her to the Trump family.

“Above all, I am sad that Michael would — once again, on a world stage — levy unsubstant­iated claims — particular­ly those of bigotry and racism” against Trump.

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