Spike Lee Says Trump Should ‘Think Twice’ if He Considers a Federal Takeover of New York: ‘The Boogie-Down? Harlem?’ | Video

Spike Lee’s characters say “Wake up!” in “Do the Right Thing,” “School Daze” and “Malcolm X” – and now the director has put the signature line in his weekend MSNBC appearance, too.

Speaking with “Politics Nation” host Rev. Al Sharpton on Saturday to promote the Denzel Washington film “Highest 2 Lowest,” Lee said the Trump administration’s federal law-enforcement takeover in Washington, D.C., wouldn’t go quite the same if the president tried it in New York City.

“This country right now is … it’s bananas, and this and this guy trying to take over D.C. and just weaponize these things,” Lee said. “And I mean, he’s going to think twice [if he tries] to do that in New York though. The Boogie Down? Harlem?”

Sharpton agreed, saying that it would “be a different kind of reaction.”

Chuckling with glee, Lee responded: “Oh yeah. It’s gonna be very different.”

Sharpton asked Lee what he thought about Trump mobilizing federal agents and National Guard troops “in heavily Black and brown cities with Black mayors,” given how Lee has portrayed authoritarian law enforcement throughout his films.

“They’re weaponizing these other agencies of the United States government,” Lee said more gravely. “And this is — this is a scary time. The last word in ‘School Daze’ … my brother … Lawrence Fishburne saying, ‘Wake up!’ And the first line in ‘Do the Right Thing’ you know — Samuel Jackson saying, ‘Wake up.’ So we need to wake up. We need to wake up. You know, it’s some serious times and we gotta be on point and just be in the moment and see this three-card-monte game — watch the black, watch the black, watch the black! … you can’t win.”

“Highest 2 Lowest” is in theaters now.

Watch the entire exchange in the video above.

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