“African-Americans want jobs” – Donald Trump
Donald Trump, the reality-television-star-turned-presumptive-Republican presidential nominee, has barely mentioned Black people during his bizarre 11-month bid for the White House.
But on Tuesday, after Trump won Indiana and forced his main rival, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, to drop out of the race, Trump uttered these words: “African-Americans want jobs.” He listed African-Americans with Latinos, who, Trump said, wants jobs, too.
I can’t recall too many times when Trump has mentioned African-Americans during his rambling speeches at raucous rallies. He doesn’t talk much about civil rights, or voting rights, or criminal justice reform, or police misconduct, or affordable housing, or racial discrimination.
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And he probably won’t talk much about these critical issues during the next six months leading up to the November election, likely against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
So when Trump talks loudly using his signature refrain — “Let’s make America great again,” where are African-Americans and Hispanics in Trump’s grand vision for the country?
Trump has called Mexicans “rapists,” a Black man was kicked, punched and called the N-word by racist Whites at a Trump rally last year, and Trump proudly boasts that he can do more for Black folks than President Barack Obama.
He was accused of making racial slurs against Black people in book written in 1991 by John R. O’Donnell, former president of Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, called Trumped!
In the book, O’Donnell wrote that Trump once said, in reference to a Black accountant at Trump Plaza, “Laziness is a trait in Blacks.” He also said: “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.”
And in 1989, after the rape of a White female jogger in Central Park, Trump took out full-page newspaper ads in four New York newspapers calling for the death penalty for the African-American teenage suspects — who were all exonerated. Trump’s actions infuriated New York’s Black community.
Last year, Trump said his plans to improve the economy is why he is leading in the polls with black voters.
“I lead with almost every group, including with the African-American groups,” Trump told reporters at an event in Greenville, South Carolina. “I have tremendous support.”
I couldn’t find a single poll that suggests that is true. Quinnipiac University said Trump is polling poorly with Black Americans. His biggest public Black supporter is former
Apprentice star Omarosa Manigault and actress Stacey Dash, but they can only vote once.
Trump still needs about 200 delegates to formally secure the nomination, but Cruz’s decision to end his campaign removed his last major obstacle.
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton leads Trump by double digits in a new CNN poll.
Clinton earns 54 percent support while Trump has 41 percent. Trump is tied with Clinton among men but trailing her among women by 26 percentage points. He leads whites by 9 points, but trails nonwhites by a whopping 67 points. He also trails among independents by 11 points.
Clinton told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she thinks Trump is unworthy of the office.
“I’ve seen the presidency up close from two different perspectives, and I think I know what it takes, and I don’t think we can take a risk on a loose cannon like Donald Trump running our country. Donald Trump has said it’s okay for other countries to get nuclear weapons. I think that’s just downright dangerous. He has said wages are too high. I think we need to have a raise for the American people, raise the minimum wage, get wages back going up. I think when he says women should be punished for having abortions, that is just beyond anything that I can imagine, I think most women can imagine.”
So is there a possibility that Trump could occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in January? Sure.
In the meantime, Trump, the billionaire real estate magnet, will rely on a predominantly white electorate to propel him into the White House because most African-Americans will likely vote for Clinton.
Do Black folks want jobs? Yes. Is Trump overly concerned about it? Probably not.
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