Video of Black Panthers founder claiming to support Trump is ‘a lie’, says grandson

A reporter has been accused of exploiting an elderly man with cognitive issues after publishing a video about a founding member of the Black Panther Party supposedly endorsing Donald Trump for president.

The video was uploaded to TikTok by Carol Mitchell, according to the New York Post, and showed 81-year-old Black Panther founder David Hilliard endorsing Trump.

Mitchell reportedly removed the video after Hilliard’s grandson Eric Jones threatened to obtain a cease and desist order. He said on social media that his grandfather is not a Trump supporter and was manipulated in the video due to his ongoing “cognitive issues.”

In a reposted version of the video, a woman believed to be Mitchell is seen introducing Hilliard.

“I want you to meet someone who knew Donald Trump, and he’s going to tell you about Donald Trump in his own words,” she says before passing the camera over to Hilliard.

“My name is David Hilliard, a founding member of the Black Panther Party,” Hilliard is then heard saying. “I knew Trump when Trump was a college student in New York, and he supported the Black Panther Party. That’s how I know Trump.”

Hilliard then describes Trump as “a decent man” and “someone who gave us [Black Panthers] money.”

“Trump is a friend of African Americans, and I knew Trump from the 1960s in New York—where he comes from,” Hilliard continues. “Not a racist as a white man. He supported Black people.”

He goes on to claim that Trump owned every brownstone in Harlem at the time before Mitchell chimes in to claim that Trump has always been “familiarized with the Black community,” to which Hilliard agrees.

Mitchell later asks Hilliard why Trump was charged in his hush-money case and “why they’re afraid they’re afraid of him to be