During a speech he gave to a Black conservative group on Friday night, former President Donald J. Trump said that he thought the four criminal charges he was facing had helped him win over Black votes. He said that this support came from Black people who saw how his problems in court showed how unfair the justice system has been in the past.
After going to a dinner in Columbia, South Carolina, put together by the Black Conservative Federation, Mr. Trump said, “I think that’s why the Black people are so much on my side now.” What is happening to me is happening to them too because they are watching it. Does that make sense?
He said that black people were more open to him because “they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually saw me as… I’m being discriminated against” at another point in his speech. It has been truly amazing.
It’s been a long time since Mr. Trump used the word “law and order” to get his conservative supporters excited. Besides that, he has been using coded racist words to attack people who disagree with him. For decades, black voters have steadily voted Democratic, so he and his team are eager to win their support. His words on Friday came in the form of a speech that was full of attempts to get black people to vote.
The former president has been shifting his attention from the Republican primary, where he is the clear favorite, to the general election. As a result, he has been talking about Black voters more and more in his talks.
In general, Mr. Trump says that the economic situation of African Americans in the US got better under his presidency instead of President Biden’s. He has also said that the large number of migrants coming through the southern border is hurting Black people more than white people because they could lose their jobs to immigrants willing to work for less money. It was said by him that this is bad for Black people.
On the other hand, Mr. Trump spoke mostly to African-American voters at his gathering on Friday. Specifically, he mixed an appeal based on race with one of the main reasons he was running in the first place: he said that the 91 felony counts against him were the result of politically motivated prosecutors and an unfair justice system.
At one point, Mr. Trump brought up the mug shot that was taken of him in August of last year, when he was arrested in Georgia on charges related to his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election there.
Not only has the Trump team used the picture to raise money, but it has also been printed on clothes. A number of independent sellers from a range of political groups have also used the picture for their own gain. Black people were wearing shirts with his booking picture on them, which was something Mr. Trump brought up.
What do you know about the person who seemed to really get it? Mr. Trump asked the crowd a question. “The people of African descent.”
A lot of people also talked about the First Step Act, which is Mr. Trump’s favorite law to make the criminal justice system better. During his campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire, where most of the people there were white, he only briefly talked about that law. Among other things, it was meant to lower the minimum fines for some crimes.
Trump has been accused of being racist for a long time, both with words and actions. In 1977, the Department of Justice sued him for being unfair to Black people who wanted to rent his apartment. In the 1980s, he ran newspaper ads in New York City calling for the death penalty to be used in response to the rape of a jogger in Central Park, which was actually the crime of five Black and Latino teens. He was accused of spreading racial hate.
A big supporter of the false movement called “birthers,” he cast question on whether or not President Barack Obama was born in the United States. This was the first time he became known as a right politician. Because he was a major figure in the movement, he made people dislike President Obama.
Every time Mr. Trump talks to Mr. Obama on the campaign trail, he keeps bringing up Mr. Obama’s middle name, Hussein. He has also kept bringing up the question of whether or not political opponents who are people of color are fit to run for office. At the moment, he is asking Nikki Haley, who is his last opponent for the Republican presidential nomination.
On the campaign road, though, Mr. Trump often talks about how well he is doing with black voters. In the US, only 8% of black voters chose him in 2020, down from 6% in 2016, but polls show that his support is growing, especially in states that are seen as key battlegrounds.
In his Friday speech, Mr. Trump thanked his fans and friends in the crowd, but he said he was having trouble recognizing some of them. This happens a lot in Mr. Trump’s campaign statements.
Some people in the crowd laughed when Mr. Trump said, “The lights are so bright in my eyes that I can’t see too many people out there.” The people in the room laughed at this comment. “But I can only see the black ones.
Could you see that I can’t find any white ones?
He kept talking and said, “That’s how far I’ve come,” as the crowd cheered. “That’s all the progress I’ve made. That is a pretty far away, isn’t it? That trip is very far.
He also went after identity politics, even though he tried many times to win over people of African descent.
While talking about how he negotiated the cost of fixing up Air Force One, Mr. Trump criticized Mr. Obama for not doing enough to cut costs.
You could have a black president or a white president who could save you $1.7 billion. You would pick the white president. Whenever Mr. Trump asked a question, the crowd cheered loudly.
