Former President Donald Trump’s recent comments about Black voters, made during the Black Conservative Federation (BCF) annual gala in South Carolina, have ignited a wave of condemnation from Black leaders, who denounce his remarks as “racist.”
According to a report published by The Hill on Saturday, February 24, 2024, speaking at the BCF gala on Friday, Trump suggested that his legal troubles had garnered him support from Black voters across the country.
“I got indicted for nothing, for something that is nothing,” Trump asserted to the crowd. “And a lot of people said that’s why the Black people like me because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing but possibly, maybe, there’s something there.”
The former president went on to claim that Black Americans have “embraced” his mugshot and stated that he understands Black people because they have contributed to building his properties.
These comments quickly drew sharp criticism from the NAACP, with Derrick Johnson, the president of the organization, expressing outrage in a statement to The Hill.
“The NAACP is outraged, but not surprised by yet another racist remark from the former President,” said Johnson. “Donald Trump is delusional to think that his criminality would be an attractive quality to Black voters. He has taken advantage of an inherently racist system, while Black Americans have been abused by it. We are not the same.”
Mondale Robinson, the founder of the Black Male Voter Project, also condemned Trump’s remarks, calling them “absolutely racist” and predicting that they would not resonate well with Black men.
“This is nothing but a continuation of Donald Trump being who he has always been,” Robinson stated. “Black men are not living in a silo, it’s not as if we don’t know this. We see it. The world might be fooled, but that’s not moving to us.”
Trump, currently facing a total of 91 criminal charges across four indictments and numerous civil lawsuits, has been aiming to garner Black voter support away from President Biden in anticipation of the upcoming November general election.
In the 2020 election, Trump secured 12 percent of Black voters’ ballots, a notable increase from 8 percent in 2016.
Adding a political dimension to the controversy, Trump hinted at considering Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Representative Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) as potential running mates.
However, this consideration has not been without controversy, as some Black voters express discontent with the two lawmakers’ continued support for Trump.
“The only thing that the world is shocked by is that Tim Scott and Byron Donalds continue to support Trump in the light of him showing them how racist he can be and is,” commented Robinson.
