Flashback: ‘Racist’ Trump Appeared on Black Sitcom in 1994 and the Live Audience Loved Him

Every now and then, evidence of lost decency reminds us that vitriolic propaganda comes with a heavy cost.

In 1994, President Donald Trump, then merely a world-famous businessman, appeared on popular sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” starring rapper-turned-actor Will Smith as the young, brash, and street-wise nephew of Philip Banks, a wealthy black attorney played by actor James Avery.

When Trump first appeared on screen in “For Sale by Owner,” an episode that aired during the show’s fourth season, the live studio audience applauded and cheered.

Indeed, those who remember the world in 1994 might view that moment with some wistfulness. After all, more than three decades later, no television producer would dare depict Trump in such a favorable light. More on that in a moment.

As for the episode itself, Trump arrived with a cash offer to purchase the Banks’ home. Nearly everyone in the Banks family welcomed “The Donald” with enthusiasm, albeit only partly because of the purchase offer.

Geoffrey Butler, the family’s aptly named butler, played by actor Joseph Marcell, announced the honored visitor and his wife.

“Sir, it is my esteemed pleasure to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Donald Trump,” Butler said at the beginning of the scene posted to YouTube.

Trump then appeared on screen with his then-wife, Marla Maples, whom he had married only months earlier in 1993. The audience erupted in cheers.

Meanwhile, the money-loving, sweater-wearing young Carlton Banks — Smith’s cousin — played by actor Alfonso Ribeiro, literally collapsed from starstruck awe.

“It’s The Donald!” Carlton exclaimed before passing out.

Then, nearly all of the family members greeted Trump with Carlton-like awe.

“Hi! Hilary Banks,” the elder Banks daughter, played by actress Karyn Parsons, said while practically swooning over Trump. “You know, you look much richer in person.”

Only young Ashley Banks, played by actress Tatyana Ali, viewed Trump as an intruder.

“Excuse me, but I’ve got something to tell you first,” Ashley said. “Thank you for ruining my life!”

Understandably, the young girl did not want the rich outsider buying her family home. But that simply gave Trump an opportunity to deliver perhaps the most prescient line ever spoken on television.

“What did you do?” Maples asked her new husband after the young girl stormed out of the room.

“Everybody’s always blaming me for everything,” the future president replied.

Of course, everyone loves nostalgia. But that should not deceive younger readers into thinking that issues pertaining to race and racism did not exist in 1994 as they did during the Black Lives Matter madness of the last decade.

“For Sale by Owner” aired on May 16, 1994. One month and one day later, NFL and television legend O.J. Simpson led police on an infamous and surreal Bronco chase down a Los Angeles freeway that culminated in an equally surreal trial and acquittal on two murder charges — all infused with what modern audiences would recognize as race-based and class-based hyperbole.

Moreover, in April and May 1992, parts of Los Angeles had burned during riots in protest of a jury verdict acquitting police officers captured on video using what many regarded as excessive force against a black man with a criminal record, Rodney King.

In other words, if members of a 1994 television audience regarded Trump as a racist, they would have said so. They would not have cheered. Nor would Trump have appeared on a black sitcom in the first place. The general atmosphere of that era was no more welcoming to overt racism than it is today.

But in those days no one ever heard such accusations. Somehow, Trump only became a “racist” after he launched his political career.

More specifically, the establishment and its media minions never labeled Trump a racist until he adopted a pro-America populist platform. When he challenged the establishment, he exposed many powerful people as mediocre parasites. And they hated him for it.

Of course, now that Trump has returned to the White House, one might say that he got the last laugh. The establishment’s lies proved ineffective. He won.

On the other hand, as anyone who watches television or spends time on social media can attest, vitriolic hatred toward Trump, grounded at least in part on false beliefs about his attitudes toward people with different skin color, has endured.

In that sense, therefore, “The Fresh Prince” reminded us that relentless propaganda has the power to shape reality for some.

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