Ok, let’s face it. Donald Trump is a racist. He is VERY racist. His racists quotes could fill a book.
Donald Trump is now trying to court the black vote, because he is at historically low poll numbers with black voters. 1% in some national polls, at 0% in some of the most crucial battleground states.
WaPo’s The Fix:
It’s hard to imagine a much worse pitch Donald Trump could have made for the black vote
At a rally Friday night in Dimondale, Mich., Donald Trump repeated a version of a plea to black voters that he had offered 24 hours earlier in North Carolina.
"No group in America has been more harmed by Hillary Clinton's policies than African Americans," he said, apparently pointing to individuals in the crowd. "No group. No group. If Hillary Clinton's goal was to inflict pain to the African American community, she could not have done a better job. It is a disgrace."
"Detroit tops the list of most dangerous cities in terms of violent crime, number one," he said from a city 90 minutes away from Detroit with a population that is 93 percent white. "This is the legacy of the Democratic politicians who have run this city. This is the result of the policy agenda embraced by crooked Hillary Clinton."
Trump does not understand that you CAN’T go to all-white towns like Dimondale or West Bend, WI and talk “to” African-Americans. He does not even care enough about African-Americans to go where they live, the inner city of Milwaukee, the inner city of Detroit. He is speaking to all-white crowds in all-white towns, to many of his supporters who are racists and often white supremacists, about the “African-American plight.”
"The only way to change results is to change leadership. We can never fix our problems by relying on the same politicians who created our problems in the first place. A new future requires brand new leadership," he said.
"Look at how much African American communities are suffering from Democratic control. To those I say the following: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose?" he asked. "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?"
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Most African-Americans don’t live in poverty, the youth unemployment is not 58% unless you count in high school students.
Politfact puts it straight:
Trump misleadingly puts black youth unemployment rate at 59 percent
The May unemployment rate for blacks ages 16 to 24 was 18.7 percent. The rate for whites in the same age group was 9.1 percent.
The employment-population ratio is a far broader measure that counts all civilians in its equation - even those who don’t work and aren’t looking for a job. In the 16- to 24-year-old category, it includes high school and college students who are not employed or seeking jobs.
As we said, 58.5 percent of blacks in this age group weren’t working in May. That compares with 48.3 percent of whites. The percentages decrease as people get older. In other words, someone is far more likely to be working at 24 than he is at 16 or 17.
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Clearly, black youths have a harder time finding work than whites. But Trump exaggerates the issue through his misleading use of statistics.
We rate his statement Mostly False.
Trump’s pitch to African-Americans is full of lies. He also does not understand that African-Americans vote for the Democratic party in such lopsided numbers because the Republican Party is full of white men who think they are superior to anyone else, full of racists like Donald Trump himself, and they appreciate the work the Democratic Party does for African-Americans with the Republican Party fighting against policies that would help and assist the African-American community tooth and nails.
Back to the main article:
Trump is getting 1% to at best 2% in national polls, 0% in many state polls.
Why? Because nonwhite voters view Trump very unfavorably. We wrote about this in June but can now update the numbers. Four-in-5 blacks have a very unfavorable view of Trump, with a slightly higher percentage, 83 percent, agreeing with the idea that he is biased against women and minorities. Eighty-seven percent of black voters we surveyed indicated that they would be anxious if he were elected president and only 6 percent "comfortable." The numbers for Clinton — who very quickly tweeted that Trump's Michigan comments were "so ignorant it's staggering" -- were nearly completely flipped.
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Trump’s appeal falls flat because African-Americans dislike Trump, have no use for him. He is hoping for short memories about his many racist statements, tweets, policy ideas, ties to white supremacist groups.
So, let’s count the ways in which Trump’s appeal to African-Americans runs into a buzz saw and is bound to fall on deaf ears:
1. Trump lies about and to the African-American community
As was shown above, most African-Americans don’t live in poverty, the youth unemployment is not 58% unless you count in high school students.
2. Trump’s constant attacks on Barack Obama’s heritage, religion, birth place
Trump’s attacks on President Obama’s place of birth are legend by now, and African-Americans haven’t forgotten:
CNN:
Donald Trump's history of suggesting Obama is a Muslim
Trump has long been one of the most vocal skeptics about Obama's birthplace and faith.
Four years ago, Trump mounted a campaign to pressure Obama to release his long-form birth certificate, even saying he would send investigators to Hawaii to find out the truth. The effort helped fuel the so-called "birther" conspiracy theory that held that Obama was born in Kenya -- and Trump also floated the idea that Obama's birth documents may label him a Muslim.
"He doesn't have a birth certificate. He may have one, but there's something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim," Trump told Fox News in 2011. "I don't know. Maybe he doesn't want that."
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3. Long history of racist attitudes
In 1989 Donald Trump took out full page ads in New York newspapers calling for 5 black teenagers, ranging from 14 to 16 years of age, to be sentenced to death and executed for supposedly raping a white girl.
Trump’s ad inflamed racist hate all over the city of New York and led to many family members of the “Central Park 5” being subjected to death threats, racial slurs, discrimination.
The “Central Park 5” were found guilty in court.
But, in 2002 it was found they were innocent:
In 2002, after Salaam had served seven years in prison, Matias Reyes, a violent serial rapist and murderer already serving life inside, came forward and confessed to the Central Park rape. He stated that he had acted by himself. A re-examination of DNA evidence proved it was his semen alone found on Meili’s body, and just before Christmas that year, the convictions against each member of the Central Park Five were vacated by New York’s supreme court.
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4. Trump uses sarcasm to make fun of African-Americans as a group
CNN:
Trump on black supporter: 'Look at my African-American over here'
Donald Trump sought to tout his support among African-Americans on Friday by pointing out a black man in the crowd and calling him "my African-American."
"Oh, look at my African-American over here. Look at him," Trump said. "Are you the greatest?"
Trump's remark came as he recalled an incident in March when a black supporter of his
assaulted a protester at a rally in Arizona as he was being escorted out of the building by police. The comment didn't generate a noticeable response from Trump's audience.
5. Trump is supported by white supremacist groups and white supremacist leaders, groups obviously hostile to African-Americans.
USNews:
Why Donald Trump's fringe white nationalist supporters matter.
There is plenty of solid reporting and opinion writing on how Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump appears to be parroting white supremacist views and ideas, for reasons debatable. I'm less concerned with whether Trump is a racist and more concerned with the number of racists who believe he is. He is the chosen leader for right-wing extremists, regardless of whether he means to be.
A former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan likes andsupports Trump. Some of the people who show up at his rallies are part of racist right-wing groups. All manner of white supremacists on social media regularly chime in to voice their endorsement, as do users of the widely read white supremacist online forum Stormfront. And on Tuesday, a violent extremist in Olympia, Washington attacked an African-American and his girlfriend outside of a restaurant, citing hatred of the Black Lives Matter movement and, according to court documents, saying he would head over to a Trump rally next to "stomp out" more members of the movement.
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Bottom line: There is a growing white supremacist movement in the country that views Trump as an advocate.
So, white nationalists and KKK members support Donald Trump precisely because of his well known racism and proposed racist policies. Yet, African-Americans are supposed to skip over to Donald Trump because they “have nothing to lose”? Insane.
Trump’s retweets of musings and graphics from White Supremacists and White Supremacy sites only add to the impression that Trump and White Supremacist groups are as thick as thieves.
Politicususa:
His Racism Is No Accident: Trump Has Retweeted White Supremacists 75 Times
An analysis of Trump's Twitter account revealed that his racism is no accident. Donald Trump has retweeted white supremacists 75 times since his campaign began.
The Little Bird software analyzed Twitter content to generate a ranked list of just under 2,000 #WhiteGenocide “influencers” as of February 8. The more impactful, the higher up on the list (which, understandably, ebbs and flows a bit over time).
Since the start of his campaign, Donald Trump has retweeted at least 75 users who follow at least three of the top 50 #WhiteGenocide influencers. Moreover, a majority of these retweeted accounts are themselves followed by more than 100 #WhiteGenocide influencers.
Trump retweeted 75 times from folks who are considered in the top 50 of White Genocide Influencers. How many times did he retweet from prominent African-American and Hispanic “Influencers” of any kind?
Judging from the reaction of neo-Nazis to his latest tweet, Trump’s racism is hitting its intended target:
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6. Hubris that seems unhinged and insane about how African-Americans will support him
Insane. After telling African-Americans “What do you have to lose?” [EVERYTHING] Donald Trump actually promised that he’ll be winning African-Americans to the tune of 95% in 2020. Insane? You bet.
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Politicususa:
Hillary Clinton Drops A Truth Bomb On Trump’s Claim He’ll Get 95% of African-American Vote
Donald Trump continues to slip into a downward mental spiral. The GOP nominee is promising that he will win 95% of the African-American vote not in 2016, but four years from now in 2020. Hillary Clinton quickly delivered a dose of reality to Trump.
Trump said:
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Trump went off of his teleprompter script and said:
Hillary’s campaign provided a cold shower:
The most generous polling number with African-Americans for Trump out there is 1% nationally. Trump has been pulling a zero in state level polls for months now.
To put Trump’s promise into proper context, he is promising to get the support of more African-American voters than President Obama. Democrats have not gotten less than 80% of African-American support in modern polling, so what Trump promised to do is simply not possible.
Trump’s desperate pitch to African-Americans could not have been any worse if he tried, and given the arrogance, lies and hubris displayed in the pitch, and given Trump’s shameful racist history over decades, the pitch is not going to go over well with African-Americans. Not even a nice try, just a cynical way to talk down to African-Americans in a way that only Republicans and racists can.