Donald Trump has asked African American voters to back his presidential bid, arguing they will “have nothing to lose” by moving away from their traditional support for Democrats.
The Republican candidate appealed for African American support at a rally in Dimondale, Michigan, an overwhelmingly white suburb outside of Lansing. He claimed the Democrats have taken advantage of African American voters and taken their votes for granted.
“Tonight, I’m asking for the vote of every single African American citizen in this country who wants to see a better future,” the businessman said.
“What do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump?” he asked them. “You’re living in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed — what the hell do you have to lose?”
“At the end of four years, I guarantee you that I will get over 95 percent of the African-American vote. I promise you.”
Trump has been lagging far behind Clinton among black voters, and is expected to get a large share of their votes as she commits to continue the policies introduced by President Barack Obama, who won roughly 93 percent of black voters in his re-election campaign in 2012.
In his speech, Trump also accused Clinton of “bigotry,” claiming she sees African-Americans “only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future,”
He contended that African Americans have seen no improvement in their lives under Democrats and now the community faces high unemployment rates with people in cities like Detroit being “refugees in their own country.”
Reacting to Trump’s outbursts, the Clinton campaign responded, “This is so ignorant it’s staggering.”
A Clinton campaign spokesperson, Marlon Marshall said: “Donald Trump asks what the African-American community has to lose by voting for him. The answer is everything from a man who questions the citizenship of the first African-American President, courts white supremacists, and has been sued for housing discrimination against communities of color.”
Marshall said, “Trump painting the entire community as living in poverty with no jobs continues to show he is completely out of touch with the African-American community.”
A spike in the death of unarmed African-Americans at the hands of white officers has prompted nationwide protests across America and gave rise to the anti-racism movement.
Trump, however, termed the movement as “very divisive,” saying the first time he heard the term Black Lives Matter, “I said, ‘You have to be kidding.”
