Black leaders are condemning former President Trump’s recent comments about Black voters as “racist.”
Speaking at the Black Conservative Federation (BCF) annual gala in South Carolina on Friday, Trump said his legal woes have earned him the support of Black voters around the country.
“I got indicted for nothing, for something that is nothing,” Trump told a black-tie event for Black conservatives in South Carolina ahead of Saturday’s Republican primary. “And a lot of people said that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing but possibly, maybe, there’s something there.”
“When I did the mug shot in Atlanta, that mug shot is No. 1,” he said, adding: “You know who embraced it more than anyone else? The Black population.”
In the freewheeling speech, Trump mixed his regular campaign remarks with appeals to the Black community and jokes that touched on race.
“The lights are so bright in my eyes I can’t see too many people out there. But I can only see the Black ones. I can’t see any white ones. That’s how far I’ve come,” Trump said to laughter from the audience.
He also said that he knew many Black people because his properties were built by Black construction workers.
In telling a story about how he renegotiated the cost of remodelling Air Force One, Trump criticized his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, the first Black person to be elected to the White House.
“I have to tell you, Black president, but I got $1.7 billion less,” Trump said. “Would you rather have the Black president or the white president who got $1.7 billion off the price?”
As the crowd cheered, he added, “I think they want the white guy.”
His comments quickly drew outrage from The NAACP.
“The NAACP is outraged, but not surprised by yet another racist remark from the former President,” Derrick Johnson, NAACP president, told The Hill in a statement.
“Donald Trump is delusional to think that his criminality would be an attractive quality to Black voters,” he continued. “He has taken advantage of an inherently racist system, while Black Americans have been abused by it. We are not the same.”
Mondale Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project, called Trump’s comments “absolutely racist” and said they will not play out well with Black men.
“This is nothing but a continuation of Donald Trump being who he has always been,” Robinson told The Hill. “Black men are not living in a silo, it’s not as if we don’t know this. We see it. The world might be fooled but that’s not moving to us.”
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) also blasted Trump for the “tired tropes” he espoused on Friday. “This might come as news to Trump, but pushing tired tropes, wannabe Jordans, and mugshot t-shirts isn’t going to win over Black voters who suffered through record high unemployment and skyrocketing uninsured rates under his leadership,” Sarafina Chitika, the DNC’s national press secretary, said in a statement.
“Trump is showing Black voters exactly what he thinks of them – and his ideas to win them over are as corny and racist as he is,” she added. “Meanwhile, President Biden and Vice President Harris are keeping their promises to Black voters and delivering real wins: record low Black unemployment, historic investments in our HBCUs, and billions in student debt relief.”
In his speech, Trump also accused Biden of being racist. “Joe Biden really has proven to be a nasty and vicious racist,” Trump said. “He has been a racist. Whether you like it or don’t like it…Most of the people in this room happen to not like it.”
The Biden-Harris campaign issued a scathing response Saturday, calling the former president “an incompetent, anti-Black tyrant.”
“The audacity of Donald Trump to speak to a room full of Black voters during Black History Month as if he isn’t the proud poster boy for modern racism,” Jasmine Harris, Black Media Director for the Biden-Harris re-election campaign, said in a statement.
“This is the same man who falsely accused the Central Park 5, questioned George Floyds humanity, compared his own impeachment trial to being lynched, and ensured the unemployment gap for Black workers spiked during his presidency,” she said. Harris added, “Come November, no matter how many disingenuous voter engagement events he attends, Black Americans will show Donald Trump we know exactly who he is.”
Trump, who is currently facing a total of 91 criminal charges across four indictments, as well as more than a half-dozen civil lawsuits, has been hoping to pull Black voter support from President Biden ahead of November’s general election.
In 2020, he won 12 percent of Black voters’ ballots, an increase from 8 percent in 2016.
Republicans face an uphill battle in courting Black voters, who are overwhelmingly supportive of the Democratic Party. And while Black voter enthusiasm for Biden has cooled over the last year, only 25 per cent of Black Americans said they had a favourable view of Trump in a December AP-NORC poll.