Donald Trump’s new pitch to African American voters: “You live in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?”
Hardly, is that a compelling message — particularly in conjunction with Trump’s hardline “law and order” platform that would assuredly accelerate rather than address mass incarceration. And then there’s Trump’s history of running businesses that have discriminated against blacks.
In the 1970s, the Justice Department “filed a civil rights case that accused the Trump firm…of violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968.”
Why? Because federal investigators discovered that “Trump employees had secretly marked the applications of minorities with codes, such as…’C’ for “colored” and “allegedly directed blacks and Puerto Ricans away from buildings with mostly white tenants, and steered them toward properties that had many minorities.”
Later on, in the 1990s, Trump was again investigated for discrimination. New Jersey regulators determined that pit bosses at a Trump casino “discriminated against black and female employees by removing them from craps games” because “they thought [a favorite customer] disliked black and female dealers.”
Now, Trump seems to think insulting and patronizing black Americans is somehow going to make up for years of racist behavior. No one’s falling for that one.
Apparently Trump will reach out to blacks by indulging stereotypes about their neighborhoods and accusing them of mass fraud.
7:57 PM – 22 Aug 2016
Trump on AA voters:
– “rioters, robbers, looters” are bad
– black people are dumb democrats
– immigrants hurt everyone
– he’s not HRC
Trump’s speech wasn’t to recruit black voters, it was meant to give him (more) public cover to say that black people are stupid.
8:18 AM – 17 Aug 2016
People do realize that Trump’s pitch to black voters is really a pitch to white suburban voters, right?
7:17 PM – 21 Aug 2016
.@realDonaldTrump to black voters: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump?
*mostly white crowd wildly applauds*
5:16 PM – 19 Aug 2016
Remember, Trump was never courting black voters, he was solidifying a racist base. https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/767859632320684032
8:15 PM – 22 Aug 2016
Trump “outreach” to black voters: Go to city that’s almost entirely white and say blacks are all poor w/ no jobs. https://twitter.com/CitizenCohn/status/767035920558223360
12:48 PM – 20 Aug 2016
We know Trump’s “pitch” is more for white voters than for us. That’s why he talks about us rather than to us. One thing about that, though.
11:44 AM – 24 Aug 2016
Trump is clearly avoiding black audiences as he “pitches” us, yes. But we can’t forget how unsafe his typical audiences have become for us.
11:44 AM – 24 Aug 2016
Trump says he’s appealing to minority voters, but has refused invites from:
NAACP
Urban League
Hispanic Chamb. of Commerce
Black media conf
5:07 PM – 23 Aug 2016
It’s not about persuading black voters. It’s about signaling to white voters that Trump isn’t unacceptably racist.
6:30 PM – 19 Aug 2016
To be sure, too many African-Americans are suffering economically. But those black people are wise enough not to vote for the party …
8:21 PM – 22 Aug 2016
…that shames and demonizes struggling people of all races, and vows to make their lives harder by cutting social programs…
8:22 PM – 22 Aug 2016
Telling white voters that black people are reluctant to leave the Democratic ‘plantation’ isn’t outreach.
12:56 PM – 24 Aug 2016
Trump’s pitch to black voters is reductive, cynical, ignorant, out of touch. His pitch to his own base is all except the last.
7:36 PM – 22 Aug 2016
Boston Herald’s Kimberly Atkins on Fox News: “This pitch is falling very flat. ”
MTV News’s Jamil Smith on MSNBC: “It may be enough to convince some suburban white voters that voting for him is not in fact a racist act…He’s saying, ‘What do you have to lose by voting for Donald Trump?’ But what do we have to gain by voting for Donald Trump?”
Julie Roginsky on Fox News: “You know what they have to lose: living under a president who thinks of them as people who are in the ghetto. That is the most stereotypical, offensive thing I’ve heard.
Author Rich Benjamin on CNN: “How does [Trump] not bring that personal venom and that strategic racism that has really been his hallmark since he declared his candidacy?”
Here’s a taste of the condescending rhetoric underlying Trump’s African American “outreach”:
Trump To African American Voters: “We’ll Make Your Streets Safe So When You Walk Down The Street, You Don’t Get Shot, Which Is What’s Happening Now.” “I will fix the problem. With rates of crime, with rates of poverty like you’ve just heard, what do you have to lose? I will fix the problem. We will fix it. Let me tell you what we have to gain. More jobs, we’ll bring them in. I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created, believe me. Believe me. Higher wages and a massive reduction in the terrible crime plaguing our inner cities. We’re going to turn it all around. Give Donald Trump a chance. I say this to the African American community. Give Donald Trump a chance! We will turn it around! We will make your streets safe so when you walk down the street you don’t get shot, which is what’s happening now. That’s what’s happening now.” [Donald Trump, Rally, Austin, TX, 8/23/16]
Trump: “You Can Go To War Zones In Countries That We’re Fighting And It’s Safer Than Living In Some Of Our Inner Cities.” “Our government has totally failed our African American friends, our Hispanic friends and the people of our country, period. The Democrats have failed completely in the inner cities. For those hurting the most – who have been failed and failed by their politicians year after year, failure after failure, worse numbers after worse numbers – poverty, rejection, horrible education. No housing, no homes, no ownership. Crime at levels that nobody’s seen. You can go to war zones in countries that we’re fighting and it’s safer than living in some of our inner cities.” [Donald Trump, Rally, Akron, OH, 8/22/16]
Trump To African American Voters: “Right Now, You Walk Down The Street, You Get Shot.” “Look, it’s a disaster, the way African Americans are living and in many cases, the way Hispanics are living and I say it with such a deep felt feeling. What do you have to lose? I will straighten it out. I’ll bring jobs back. We’ll bring spirit back. We’ll get rid of the crime. You’ll be able to walk down the street without getting shot. Right now, you walk down the street, you get shot. Look at the statistics, we’ll straighten it out. If you keep voting for the same failed politicians, you will keep getting the same results. They don’t care about you. They just like you once every four years. Get your vote and then they say, ‘Bye Bye’” [Donald Trump, Rally, Akron, OH, 8/22/16]
Trump To African American Voters: “You’re Living In Poverty, Your Schools Are No Good, You Have No Jobs, 58 Percent Of Your Youth Is Unemployed – What The Hell Do You Have To Lose?” “What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose? I say it again. What do you have to lose? Look, what do you have to lose? You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed – what the hell do you have to lose?” [Donald Trump, Rally, Dimondale, MI,8/19/16]
Published: Aug 24, 2016