Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner had some words Tuesday for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom at the annual slavery commiseration at the President’s House in Old City.
The 24th annual commiseration occurred as city leaders and advocates continue to fight a legal battle to get an exhibit on slavery at the site restored after the Trump administration replaced panels at the exhibit.
Krasner, who was one of the speakers at the event, said that President Donald Trump is a “pain in the ass” and an “embodiment of hate, the embodiment of ignorance and the embodiment of depriving people of their vote and education.”
Krasner also said that the President’s House site with a memorial and educational content will continue to exist in the years to come, while Trump’s ballroom will not.
“In about 10 to 15 years, we are all going to be sitting here with smiles on our faces,” Krasner said. “And I’m going to have a paper weight sitting on my desk. And do you know what that paper weight’s going to be? It’s going to be a piece of the ballroom after we blow it up.”
Krasner also said that the ballroom’s explosion will be done in an “official ceremony,” and the ballroom’s pieces will be sold to pay back the taxpayers.
“And I will have one on my desk,” he said.
Trump’s ballroom is under construction where the White House’s East Wing used to stand. The cost of the project is estimated around $400 million, with about $200 million in private donations spent or committed to the project, according to the Trump administration.
A lawsuit trying to stop the ballroom’s construction has been taken up by the Supreme Court, who has allowed work to continue as they consider the case.