Washington (CNN)The chair of the Congressional Black Caucus said Wednesday night his heated letter to President Donald Trump was intended to explain his frustration with the President's attitude toward racial issues.

"The truth of the matter is I don't care if the President is a racist, a man of goodwill or anything else," Rep. Cedric Richmond said to CNN's Don Lemon on "CNN Tonight." "I care about his policies and I care about how it affects the communities that we represent."

Richmond, a Democrat from Louisiana, slammed Trump's criticisms of NFL players' protests during the National Anthem as well as his administration's approach to race relations in the letter sent late Wednesday.

"Almost everything you have done and said on the topic of race or on issues that implicate race demonstrate a shocking lack of knowledge for an adult public official in the 21st century," Richmond wrote.