Former President Donald Trump found himself in hot water yet again after making a series of controversial and seemingly racially insensitive remarks at the Black Conservative Federation’s annual gala in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday night, February 23.
As Trump attempted to court Black voters by boasting of his supposedly long history of supporting the African American community, Americans were quick to fact-check his claims by digging into the history books.
Raw Story reports that one of the most glaring falsehoods came when Trump declared “Unlike racist Joe Biden, I spent my entire life working with Black Americans to build buildings…”
However, numerous journalists and public figures immediately pushed back, citing the 1973 racial discrimination case brought against Trump and his father by the U.S. Justice Department.
Trump biographer Tim O’Brien shared the legal filing from that landmark case, which accused the Trumps of refusing to rent apartments to Black tenants in their housing developments.
The case was ultimately settled without an admission of guilt but nonetheless stood in stark contrast to Trump’s claim of a lifetime building opportunities for Black Americans.
The former president’s comments took an even more eyebrow-raising turn when he responded to the bright lights on stage by stating: “These lights are so bright in my eyes I can’t see too many people out there… I can only see the Black ones. I can’t see any white ones. That’s how far I’ve come. That’s a long way isn’t it?”
The racially-tinged remark set off a firestorm of criticism on social media and cable news, with pundits questioning what the media’s response would be if similar words had come from President Biden.
Many saw it as Trump trotting out demeaning racial tropes in a clumsy attempt at minority outreach.
Particularly shocking to some was Trump’s assertion early in his speech that “That’s why Black people like me” about his legal troubles and indictments.
The implication that Black voters embrace Trump because of his criminal woes did not sit well.
As the backlash grew, the former president’s allies scrambled to do damage control, insisting his comments were being taken out of context or misinterpreted.
However, the seemingly off-the-cuff remarks played into a larger narrative of Trump making racially loaded and insensitive statements both in politics and business over decades.
Ultimately, the gala speech displayed the treacherous tightrope Trump must now walk as he seeks to reclaim he oval office.
His incendiary rhetoric that arguably stoked divisions in the past could severely undermine any new attempt at taking an inclusive approach to attracting a broader coalition of voters.
With controversies like this likely to continue flaring up, Trump’s campaign will face scrutiny over whether he can truly reinvent himself or is relying on the same combative playbook that may have played a role in his 2020 defeat.
There’s only one way that that madness will stop. After his last Big Mac
The ignorance of TRUMP is so glaring that he cannot see past his bigotry. May our creator give us relief from this buffoon of his creation.