CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mayor Emanuel said President Donald Trump's public assertion that he is "not racist" must be viewed in the context of what he's done and said in the past.

Mayor Emanuel said it is a sad commentary on President Trump's words and actions that he felt compelled to say he is not racist.

"I think it's a sad commentary both on his words and his actions and I'm not just talking about what was recently in the news as he described Haiti and that is a particular thing for Chicago given Jean Baptiste Dusable's role in the founding of Chicago," Mayor Emanuel said.

"He has played a role of divisiveness in his actions in picking out individuals and countries that play a divisive role both on race, on faith, on gender and sexual orientation to me that are really reprehensible to the direction we all want to go."

The Mayor answered reporters questions after addressing participants at a Youth Summit in the South Loop for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.