Donald Trump pitched himself to African-American voters and promised he would win 95 percent of the community’s vote in a hypothetical re-election bid at a rally Friday in Dimondale, Michigan.
“You’re living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs,” Trump said. “Fifty-eight percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?”
Three African-American IU students had negative responses to Trump’s comments. Junior Erin Hopkins said she has come to expect this behavior given Trump’s past remarks, while freshman Quinton Tyler said the claim illustrates Trump’s true personality.
Sophomore Kianna Reed said Trump’s comments make her feel like he’s downplaying an entire race.
“He’s stereotyping us and making it seem like we don’t have anything going for ourselves,” Reed said.
Mark Fraley, chair of the Monroe County Democratic Party, said voters need to remember this is the man who questioned President Obama’s citizenship.
“He doesn’t miss any opportunities to make offensive remarks, whether they’re to African-Americans, Latinos, women or Muslims,” Fraley said.
William Ellis, chair of the Monroe County Republican Party, said he wishes Trump would appeal to all Americans rather than segregating by ethnicity or economic class. However, Ellis said he believes Democrats target groups such as “African-Americans, Latinos and soccer moms,” so Trump must respond in kind.
It is notable that Dimondale, the Lansing, Michigan, suburb where Trump gave his initial pitch, is a mostly white city, Fraley said. During the 2010 U.S. census, Dimondale was 93 percent white.
Clinton is currently beating Trump 91 percent to 1 percent among African-Americans, according to a joint NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this month.
Fraley said Trump’s speech is not a meaningful effort of outreach to the African-American community.
He said this is one of Trump’s ploys to make his supporters feel they aren’t racist by supporting him.
“This is a person who has built his entire career on other people and trying to make fools of other people and enriching himself in the process,” Fraley said. “It’s what he’s tried to do throughout this election, and this is just another play out of the same playbook.”
Fraley said he does not believe voters will fall for this strategy, and Trump will lose significantly in November.
Hopkins said Trump relies on his business reputation to persuade voters, but she said she does not believe this makes him qualified to be president.
“Running a business and running a country are not the same thing,” Hopkins said. “So hopefully people keep that in mind.”
