In a move that is surprising to absolutely no one, Donald Trump will not be speaking at this year’s annual NAACP convention which begins on Saturday in Baltimore.
This is the second year in a row that he has declined an invitation to speak at the event. The same invitation has been extended to, and accepted by, his predecessors in previous years— with Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan all speaking at the event. In fact, Trump has just made history by becoming the first sitting president in more than 30 years to break with tradition and not meet with the nation’s oldest civil rights group at their annual convention. This move solidifies every thing we need to know about him and his priorities. Of course, we didn’t need this latest refusal to figure out that this president is a racist and a bigot who cares little for minorities or improving their lives.
The NAACP responded to Trump’s refusal to attend their conference by putting out this statement on Thursday.
“It’s extremely unfortunate that during these pressing and urgent times, the President has chosen to turn his back on the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization – though I must admit, his refusal to attend our convention is not totally unexpected,” said Leon Russell, Board Chairman of the NAACP. [...]
“During his campaign, President Trump asked us ‘what do you have to lose?’ This is the second time President Trump has refused an offer to speak at our annual convention. We get the message loud and clear. The President’s decision today underscores the harsh fact: we have lost – we’ve lost the will of the current Administration to listen to issues facing the Black community.
Needless to say that in his nearly two-year campaign, Donald Trump made it very clear to everyone he spoke to that black people, in his opinion, were doing terribly. “You're living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. Fifty-eight percent of your youth is unemployed.” This was a narrative that he repeated often. So given a chance to speak to actual black people about his ‘yuge’ plans for fixing the conditions that have us living the hellhole that he so painstakingly painted on the campaign trail, you’d think he might actually take up the opportunity.
Except: it’s Donald Trump. He’s a complete fraud and a charlatan who wanted votes, and said anything to get them. This is the same man who campaigned as a champion of LGBTQ rights. But when Pride came last month, the White House refused to acknowledge it at all.
This Pride Month, President Trump has held up no flag. He has made no proclamation. The White House—lit up in rainbow colors two years ago to celebrate the nationwide legalization of marriage equality—has remained white. [...]
And never was Trump’s silence louder this month than on the anniversary of the Pulse shooting. Last year, after the horrific massacre at an Orlando LGBT nightclub, he tweeted, “Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs.” [...]
“I think it’s more of the same,” GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis told The Daily Beast of the White House’s Pride Month silence. “Candidate Trump was lip service and now President Trump is absolutely erasing LGBTQ people.”
This is not by accident. Black people and the LGBTQ community overwhelmingly voted for Hillary Clinton because we understood the grave danger Trump posed to our well-being. And by not acknowledging us, he is attempting to get his revenge.
Remember what he has said in the past about loyalty? His fragile ego cannot take that he is so deeply unpopular among our communities. This is a man who only puts himself in front of audiences that will mindlessly cheer him on and salivate when he yells pithy expressions devoid of any real meaning. He’s not interested in real dialogue and has only shown movement toward policies that will cause real and lasting damage toward marginalized communities.
Hell, he’s not even interested in really governing. This is why the Congressional Black Caucus has refused to meet with him—twice. So, screw it. It’s been a longstanding tradition to invite leaders regardless of party into dialogue about how to improve the livelihood of the black community. But these are anything but traditional times.
Some solid relationship advice has always been that one should never waste their time chasing a potential partner who does everything to show you that they don’t really want to be involved with you in the first place. Why bother getting in the mud with Trump, or even try to bring him out and clean him up to engage with the rest of us? Our time and energy is much better spent elsewhere.