Donald Trump tries to woo black voters in visit to Detroit
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives a thumbs up during a church service at Great Faith Ministries.
DETROIT >> Donald Trump said Saturday he wanted to help rebuild Detroit and told members of a black church that “there are many wrongs that should be made right” as the GOP presidential nominee tried to woo African-Americans two months before the election.
“I am here to listen to you,” Trump told the congregation at the Great Faith Ministries International in remarks that included references to some of his campaign plans. “As I prepare to campaign all across the nation, I will have the chance to lay out my economic plans which will be so good for Detroit.”
Seated in the front row was Omarosa Manigault, a former contestant on Trump’s reality television series who has been helping guide his outreach to the black community. Also in the audience was Detroit native Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who ran against Trump in the primaries and is now advising the campaign.
While protesters were a vocal presence outside, Trump made a pitch inside for support from an electorate strongly aligned with Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“I want to help you build and rebuild Detroit,” he said. “I fully understand that the African-American community has suffered from discrimination and there are many wrongs that should be made right.”
He also said the nation needs “a civil rights agenda of our time,” with better education and good jobs.
Unlike his usual campaign stops where he confidently has addressed mostly white crowds that supported him and his plans for the country, Trump’s visit to Detroit on Saturday was intended to be more intimate.
Some protesters tried to push through a barrier to the parking lot but were stopped by church security and police.
Rev. Horace Sheffield who led a march from his church blocks away said: “I walked up to the gate and said I was going to church. I was immediately confronted and was told I needed a ticket. You need a ticket to get in church? Anybody who is in this church should be appalled. I love Bishop Wayne T, but to not let the public in?”
Ahead of his trip, Toni McIlwain said she believes that as a candidate, Trump has a right to go anywhere he wants. But, she said, it takes a lot of nerve for him to visit Detroit.
Many black people in the city, she said, are still stung by his stop in Michigan last month, when he went before a mostly white audience and declared, “You live in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed.” He asked, rhetorically, what blacks had to lose by voting for him instead of Clinton.
“People picked up on” Trump saying “you’re all just crap,” said McIlwain, who for years ran a community center that offered education and drug prevention programs in one of Detroit’s most distressed neighborhoods.
“He generalized the total black community. How dare you talk to us like that and talk about us like that?” she said.
Carson told The Associated Press before Trump’s trip that it would serve as an opportunity for the GOP nominee to see the challenges residents face as he refines his policy plans.
“It always makes much more of an impression, I think, when you see things firsthand,” he said.
But the risky nature of the visit was underscored by what appeared to be unusually cautious planning by the Trump campaign.
On Thursday, The New York Times published what it said was a script of pre-approved questions Trump would be asked in his interview with Jackson, along with prepared answers.
Jackson told CNN on Friday that he “didn’t see anything wrong” with clearing his questions with the campaign and hadn’t offered softballs. Trump’s intention was to meet and speak with local residents while he’s in town “because he’s been criticized,” Jackson said, “for preaching to African-Americans from a backdrop of white people.”
Among the members of the clergy denouncing Trump’s visit was the Rev. Lawrence Glass, who said Trump’s heart was not into helping blacks.
Glass said Trump represents “politics of fear and hate” and that “minorities of all kinds have much to lose taking a chance on someone like” Trump.
For Trump, courting black voters is a challenge. Most polls show his support among black voters is in the low single digits. Many blacks view some of his campaign rhetoric as insulting, and racist.
Detroit is about 80 percent black, and many are struggling. Nearly 40 percent of residents are impoverished, compared with about 15 percent of Americans overall. Detroit’s median household income is just over $26,000 — not even half the median for the nation, according to the census.
The city’s unemployment rate has dropped, but is still among the highest in the nation. And public school students have lagged behind their peers on statewide standardized tests.
64 responses to “Donald Trump tries to woo black voters in visit to Detroit”
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TRUMPING to the masses. He should be given a cultural awareness test.
It doesn’t really matter there are too many people who sign their checks on the back who vote to maintain their status.
Watched his warm to the heart speech at the church…was well received by the mostly black congregation.
Dems must seething.
Keonigohan, fully agree with your post. Me thinks that Mr. Trump will continue his outreach and message to the election and Americans will begin to see and understand his message that we are all heading in the same direction under his leadership. Most important, we Americans, all win at the end. Yep, Dems are seething.
You imagine seething – Democrats are mostly amused. Mr. Trump somehow failed to mention the issues that have made him so remarkably unpopular in that community, like his company’s longstanding efforts to not rent to black folks. Acting like an adult for a few hours (although I admit that is a major accomplishment for Mr. Trump) is not going erase decades of his actions.
You have invented the seething thing. Democrats know that Mr. Trump is going to lose the election is a giant orange flaming heap, so it’s more entertainment than anything else. His loss cannot be too humiliating or embarrassing for him.
Democrats are mostly amused.
Only if Democrats find [scatological gerund redacted] in their own britches a source of amusement.
Truth be told, they are terrified.
And with good reason.
thos – You’re wrong of course, but keep up with your fantasy. Mrs. Clinton is going to win an electoral college landslide. Right now, it looks like about 110 or so votes. Humiliating for Trump. I hope.
Democrats could not manufacture a worse candidate than Mr. Trump. It’s still amazing that he actually won the nomination of a major party.
Keep pretending that he’s a good candidate and that Democrats are “terrified.” Good luck with that.
Sorry Klastri, the Donald was the best candidate running on the republican side. Consider who came in number 2, fabulous Ted Cruz, the most hated politician in Washington DC.
Klastri, you are talking about something that happened in 1973. Trump counter sued. They settled with no admission of wrong doing. He had a Few Democrats in his pocket back then. That is why nobody believes you.
Accept that he still polls in the very low single digits for blacks and in some states he actually polls at zero. For it to make any difference, he would need to poll in the mid 30s. As a specific point of reference, Mitt got only as high as the low 20s.
IRT Ike, and Mr. Trump continuing his outreach to all Americans will reach that mid 30% level. And, we may all be surprised that Mr. Trump exceeds that % by the November general election in all the States.
Hmmmn, that would not only historical, it would be an utter miracle.
Trump claimed “African American youth is 58 percent unemployed.” The official unemployment rate for blacks ages 16 to 19 in January was 25.2 percent.
Trump said a “recent poll” showed 25 percent of blacks support him in a hypothetical race against Hillary Clinton. That “recent poll” is actually from September. Six recent polls, show him at 3%, and that’s on the high side. So, you are saying in the next 60 days or so, he will increase this by over 1000% percent–that is ludicrous.
Black people don’t forget that Trump has discriminated against their community in the housing market and took out a full page ad in the NYT against the Central Park five, who were erroneously prosecuted and the case ended up in a historical settlement by the city of NY. Yeah right , he is really down with black folks..
If you are so sure, pick an escrow company of your choosing and I’ll place a 1000 to your 100, if he goes over just 10%.
Black folks know that Willy Clinton wasn’t prosecuted for rape and Bill Cosby was. HiLIARy personally attacked Bill’s female victims. Never forget.
IRT Ike, 25.2% of Americans of African ancestry ages 16 to 19 is acceptable?
Of course not, but it is a common example of his tendency for embellishment. Show me one poll where he is polling over 6% with the black community–just one.
IRT Ike, I believe that if you are born (Mother a citizen of the U.S.) or naturalized in the United States, you are an American. Only the Liberal Democrats separate Americans of African ancestry from all other Americans. And, polling to attempt to show the United States is separated by race is wrong and un-American. As Johnny Green, a Black from LA, shared with the platoon in Vietnam, we all bleed red as Americans.
Kuro, that is both ridiculous and impractical. Rs poll the same demographic groups as Ds–period. Besides tailoring messages it allows political parties to identify public policy relative to a group. For instance, if didn’t identify seniors in Florida and attendant public policy, you would have missed a major constituency.
Summarily, it’s no wonder and surprise Saiki lost, you border on being outdated, antiquated and inane.
IRT Ike, agreed that the establishment republicans do poll similar to the Democrats. That is why Mr. Trump won the Primary election and blindsided the establishment republicans. Ike, we are all Americans, period. Only the Democrats and establishment republicans continue to separate Americans into racial groups. We are all just Americans, not separated by different demographics. Public policy must apply equally to all Americans. We do have a Constitution that applies to all of us equally, period. Hey Ike, Saiki is one of the establishment republicans and lost the chance to become Governor of Hawaii.
Ike, Why would you be concerned if what you say is true. You seem worried lately. Double digit poll leads evaporateing? The Clingon Campaign will collapse fromthe sheer weight of the corruption. Like they say in show business, you ain’t seen nothing yet. They are on every channel defending the liar. Why are they doing that? Obvious.
You must be the Big Bully kicking sand in the face of 100 # weaklings. I know the type. Security guard material.
“Glass said Trump represents “politics of fear and hate””
There is something called the Godwin law, which states that as an electronically published discussion grows longer, the probability of someone resorting to the Hitler reference approaches 1.
I think we need another law for “hate”.
“As an electronically published interaction grows longer, the probability of someone accusing the other side of “hate” approaches 1″.
A related law is “the first one to use the “hate” label ends the discussion”.
So get your “hate” and “hater” accusations in early and often.
Anybody (maybe except you) who heard his immigration speech saw hate. Lots of it. Even when he’s reading words on a TelePrompTer, he seethes with anger.
For Trump, hate is definitely right right word.
He’s a psychotic.
Trumps wooing blacks is useless. They are hopeless, they cannot even comprehend that the invasion of illegals is taken their jobs away.
Perhaps you should learn the distinction between causation and correlation? Once you have, which might take years for you, articulate the emperical nexus which establishes what you are saying…..
What difference does it make? It was the video.
Pathetic is the only word I can think of for you. Relentlessly pathetic.
You should consider the feelings of those families who have had their lives destroyed by an illegal immigrant, who is usually a repeat offender who has been deported several times. Those are senseless deaths. That my friend, is hate. A majority of citizens (on the mainland, so you don’t often hear about it), want illegal criminals and gang members prevented from entering the country. That can only be done if you seal the border. I have yet to hear any Democrats plan (especially from Hillary), for stopping criminals from entering the country. “Comprehensive immigration reform” are empty words. Any reform without sealing the border will not stop criminals. Do you know how Hillary’s plan will stop criminals? Let us all know. In th meantime, Trump is offering some solutions.
Don’t change the subject!
Klastri, I heard the same speech. I not only heard it, I read the complete text. You may see that as hate, but I don’t nor should anyone who believes in the rule of law and the security of our country. I don’t know how the Democrat Party has you wired, but I would be interested in knowing what you heard that was hate.
IRT Klastri, out of Mr. Trumps 10 points on illegal immigration, which one is about hate, and “lots of it”. I watched and listened to the entire presentation on CNN and did not see or hear any “Hate” from Mr. Trump.
klas! Take it Easy! What did you have for breakfast? Nails and Gun Powder? Ease up sistah..ohh,pssssst ,pssssst.Btw.
Donalds polling Numbers are single digits to sweet Hillary! Yaaaaaay! In some polling results he is beating Sweet Hillary…Can I get a “Hell Yeah “outta you?
Now,now don’t forget before you “decipher” my post,just remember to calm down & “Take it easy” Haaaaaaaaaaa!
I see. You are the one who always writes stream of consciousness nonsense with incorrect punctuation and sentence syntax – as if you had just finished a breakfast of crack, and I’m the one who needs to take it easy? Got it.
Klastri, I am still waiting to know what you heard as hate in Trump’s speech. Why won’t you answer.
Ronin006 – My wife read this and other comment boards and noted that A. You don’t understand fifth grade arithmetic; and B. You don’t understand eighth grade civics.
So she suggested that I not waste my time debating with you because you “don’t seem to know anything an adult should know, and really don’t care to learn.” Your addition fiasco lower in this forum about unemployment rates pushed her over the edge. She’s right, of course.
Klastri, your comment proves you don’t think for yourself. I admit misinterpreting the data in the Department of Labor report, must have forgotten to take my Prevagen, but I have some satisfaction in knowing that you did not discover the error and it took your wife to bring it to your attention. Now please stop being evasive and tell me and other readers exactly what Trump said in his speech that was hate.
Trump’s 58% unemployment rate for black youth is completely fact-free.
Yes, as it includes blacks youths still in HS.
Bsdetection, you are right. Trumps’ 58% unemployment rate for black youth is completely fact free. Moreover, he misstated the unemployment rate. Allow me to add the facts. The correct rate was actually worse at 62.9% for the 2nd quarter of 2016 according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate for 16 & 17 years old was 36.1% and 26.8% for 18 & 19 years old. http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpsee_e16.htm
And if you include high school students, what is the unemployment rate for white youth? You state that 36.1% of high school aged (16–17 years old) black youth are unemployed, but doesn’t that mean that 63.9% of that group are employed? Trump has been making up phony unemployment statistics since his campaign began. His frequent statement that the “real” unemployment rate is 42% is blatantly false. To generate a 42% rate, he has to include retired, disabled, homemakers and others who have no interest in working. Trump’s statistics are based on the selective misuse of statistics and phony comparisons.
Ronin, you drew me in here, but only to critique one simple mathematical flaw. Your “correct rate” cannot be computed by adding the unemployment rate of 16-17 year olds (36.1%) to the unemployment rate of 18-19 year olds (26.8%). In this case 36.1% + 26.8% does not equal 62.9%. Now THAT’s elementary school math! If 361 boys out of 1000 boys were employed and 268 of 1000 men were employed, that’d be 629 of 2,000 black youths employed, or 31.45%. If the count for each group was unequal, the combined overall percentage rate would be even more skewed. Solly?
Yeah sure,Right! “And if you like,you can Keep your Doctor and your rates will never rise”. And Oh! BTW “This is Not “Ransom”.Obama
And Oh ,OH!wait,wait I did not send classified material using my private server>Oh.OH.Oh! and yes when we left the WH we were DEAD BROKE.
Indeed ! Completely “Fact Free”.Hillary Clinton.lol. Oh,Oh, Oh wait wait! My Favorite ” I Did Not Have Se==)uAL relations with that woman” Billy bob Clinton.
Fact:Trumps Rally’s attracts supporters by the Thousands! Hillary’s?She’s lucky to get a few Hundred, & why do you think,they (MSM)never pans their camera’s direction….. into her audience.Uhuh! This will be a monumental Landslide defeat for the Clintons! watch!
Here are the ground rules for Trump’s interview with a black pastor.
1. The interview will be conducted in private—no members of the public
2. The interview will not be broadcast live
3. All questions were submitted to the Trump campaign in advance.
4. Trump will read answers prepared by his staff.
5. Trump campaign will edit the video
Oops That for sure is a lying crooked HiLIARy interview. When is her next pres conference??
No, those are the conditions set by the Trump campaign.
Source?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/us/politics/donald-trump-black-voters-wayne-jackson.html?_r=0
How can people believe this salesman? Are people that gullible?
Apparently yes, especially if you are republican. lol The Donald has sadly just turned out to be just another big spending republican who loves debt.
Apparently the electorate is quite gullible. Remember that little Barry was elected with an empty resume after pushing the more qualified Mrs. Clinton out off the way. Mrs. Clinton is back to try again. Unfortunately, the ravages of time have caught up to her and she is physically unqualified for the job.
Keep up that line of attack. It’s been very effective so far!
“I love the poorly educated!” Go Trump!
The only thing more alarming than the salesman are all the millions of people who are buying his product.
Then again everyone needs TP if you thing about it.
Trumps futile attempt to obtain black voters is akin to KFC soliciting the votes of chickens…..
At least he didn’t condescend to them like Hillary has been known to do when addressing black audiences. She’s quite fond of adopting a phony black dialect when talking down to blacks that makes her sound ridiculous and pathetic. She just can’t help it, that sort of condescension is hard wired into progressives. You Hillary supporters might want to put the plastic sheet on the mattress sooner than later as many of you will resume your bed wetting habit when the polls turn in Donald’s favor. The fact is that all of the violent, jobless, hopeless inner cities are run by democrats and have been for decades. If that realization finally begins to take hold then democrats will have to go into overdrive to with voter fraud to make ups for lost black votes.
Trump knocked it outta da park. The Trump Train is rolling and HiLIARy is in her fox hole. People are listening to his message..Trump 2016
Mark Burns, a black televangelist, Trump surrogate and RNC convention speaker, has had his biography completely discredited. Among his completely bogus claims are a college degree and 6 years of military service. The Trump campaign has a problem with truthfulness, from the laughably fake doctor’s note about Trump’s health to Melania’s demonstrably phony claims about her immigration status; They think they can get away with anything. Has Trump even produced a letter from the IRS saying that his returns are being audited? No, of course not. Even if he is being audited, there is no reason he can’t release his tax returns, except that doing so would reveal that he lies about his wealth, his income, his charitable giving, and, probably, his dependance on Russian loans to stay afloat.
HiLIARy’s health is a serious matter. Just look at her. The meds aren’t working. She has had her biography completely discredited. Clinton Cash. Great show.
No, what has been discredited are the fake Clinton medical records that have been circulated on conservatives websites.
See: http://www.factcheck.org/2016/08/fake-clinton-medical-records/
Clinton has made public far more of her health records than Donald Trump, who has released nothing other than a fake note that couldn’t have been written by a doctor. Trump’s note was signed by a doctor who claimed to work at hospital departments that don’t exist. The URL for the doctor’s website, listed on the letterhead, was never active and the domain name wasn’t registered until several months after the date of the doctor’s note. If you’re going to forge something, at least get the dates and names right.
IRT BS-D, In my opinion, Pastor Mark Burns is gone for falsifying his resume. Mr. Trumps Doctor, on the other hand, is a practicing physician and is licensed in NY. Melania’s immigration status is factual and passes the test from the INS. The IRS has confirmed they are auditing Mr. Trumps submitted tax returns and it’s Mr. Trumps decision not to release until the IRS audit is completed. Makes plenty sense not to release. Once the IRS clears the tax return, the media can question sections of his tax returns, and the response is, “the IRS audited and approved”. Everything else is assumtions.
That’s a lot of spinning and twisting. A whole lot.
Klastri, mahalo, so you like the spin. But, it’s the truth that I posted.
kuroiwaj – Yup. Gotcha.
There are continuing questions about Melania’s employment at the time she entered the country, so she is not out of the woods regarding this issue. Unfortunately, it is her husband’s run for president that has caused such heavy scrutiny, primarily because he has said anyone in this country illegally will be required to leave the country and apply to come in legally. Although her marriage to Trump would have qualified her to apply for citizenship, there might (big might) be a problem if she worked illegally before getting the proper work visa and lied bout it on her applications for visas and citizenship. Immigration experts say that her citizenship can then be nullified. All of this remains to be examined thoroughly, but it remains an open issue.
I doubt very many people listen to him. Trump give up on the Black vote. Obama controls them.
In a more generous poll, Trump wins just 3.6 percent in the latest poll from Reuters/Ipsos. In critical swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, he wins a statistically negligible share of the black vote, i.e. zero percent.
In a sign of confidence, however, Trump plans to take his message to Detroit, where he’ll hold his first event in a predominantly black community, speaking with Bishop Wayne T. Jackson of Great Faith Ministries. There’s a strong chance he’ll stick to his present pitch, even as it lands flat with the vast majority of black voters.
That fact—black indifference or even antipathy to Trump and his rhetoric—deserves a little more attention. It’s not that black voters are hostile to Trump; it’s that they won’t even entertain his basic message. There’s nothing he could say or do in the realm of possibility that would budge his numbers away from historic lows, much less restore them to the double digits enjoyed by George W. Bush in the 2004 election. Given the real problems facing black voters—including higher rates of joblessness and criminal victimization—why aren’t they receptive to Trump’s message?
The simple answer is that it’s patronizing, ahistorical nonsense that’s not at all unique to Trump. The problem goes beyond the mere optics of his “outreach”—producing dystopian portraits of black life for predominantly white audiences. And it’s not just the extent to which Trump is talking about black Americans rather than to them. The central issue is that Trump portrays black Americans not as able citizens who need to be convinced, but as mindless followers of a failed regime.
In this narrative, black Americans are mere objects—means to a partisan end. They do not choose or act as political agents. There are no black politicians or activists or leaders of any stripe. Instead, they are acted upon, tools of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. And worse, despite the horrors of Democratic governance, they don’t understand that they’ve been used and “betrayed.” They still vote for Democrats in overwhelming numbers. They are dupes.
Trump’s argument isn’t new. It is de rigueur among conservative personalities to blame the Republican Party’s poor performance with black voters on a “plantation mentality,” in which blacks are kept hopelessly dependent on government benefits and the Democratic Party that peddles them. The goal: to keep black Americans from grasping the truth that prosperity comes from “liberty” and free markets. You can hear this perspective throughout right-wing media, from Fox News and popular websites like Townhall, to films like Dinesh D’Souza’s Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party and Pritchett Cotten’s Runaway Slave, a documentary that claims to show how “people can break free from a form of modern slavery caused by relying on welfare,” and in which a black conservative—the Rev. C.L. Bryant—is the titular “runaway slave” who escapes the implied Democratic “plantation.” Slate
Charles Blow demolishes Trump’s phony black outreach: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/opinion/donald-trump-does-detroit.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region