Republican candidate Donald Trump threw out a black man from a campaign rally in Kinston, North Carolina, after accusing him of being a “thug” hired by Democrats to disrupt the event.
However, the man who was thrown on Wednesday, C.J. Cary, claims he is a Trump supporter and was merely trying to deliver a message to Trump to mend ties with some key demographic groups the Republican candidate has offended.
Cary stood a few dozen feet from the stage trying to get Trump’s attention by waving a note and yelling “Donald.”
But Trump assumed Cary was a disruptive protester.
“Were you paid $1,500 to be a thug?” Trump asked Cary. The billionaire businessman then asked security to remove him.
On the campaign trail, Trump has been accusing his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton of paying her supporters to disrupt his rallies
A former US Marine and resident of Nash County, Cary told reporters afterwards that he plans to vote for Trump. “He entirely mistook that and thought that I was a protester,” he said, according to media reports.
Cary said he sought to offer his advice to Trump that he should treat certain groups of Americans with more respect, including African Americans, women, college students and people with disabilities.
Much of Trump’s 2016 campaigning has been marked by controversial and disparaging remarks about women, Mexican immigrants and Muslims.
