Former President Donald Trump is being blasted for a series of comments he made on Friday while speaking at the Black Conservative Federation’s annual gala in South Carolina.
During the speech, Trump said that his legal troubles and numerous indictments have been the cause for his strong support from Black voters.
“I got indicted for nothing, for something that is nothing,” Trump told 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.”
Trump continued, saying that Black people are wearing T-shirts with his mug shot on them, which he dubbed the “number one” mugshot, followed by Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
The remarks from Trump very quickly drew criticism and outrage from the NAACP and other groups.
In a statement to The Hill, NAACP president Derrick Johnson shared that his organization was “not surprised by yet another racist remark from” Trump.
“Donald Trump is delusional to think that his criminality would be an attractive quality to Black voters,” he continued. “He has taken advantage of an inherently racist system, while Black Americans have been abused by it. We are not the same.”
The Democratic National Committee was also quick to call out Trump over the “tired tropes.”
“This might come as news to Trump, but pushing tired tropes, wannabe Jordans, and mugshot t-shirts isn’t going to win over Black voters who suffered through record high unemployment and skyrocketing uninsured rates under his leadership,” Sarafina Chitika, the DNC’s national press secretary, said in a statement.
Chitika went on to say that Trump is “showing Black voters exactly what he thinks of them.”
“Meanwhile, President Biden and Vice President Harris are keeping their promises to Black voters and delivering real wins: record low Black unemployment, historic investments in our HBCUs, and billions in student debt relief,” Chitika said.
But during Trump’s speech, he accused Biden of being a racist, saying that he has a track record of it.
“Joe Biden really has proven to be a nasty and vicious racist,” Trump said. “He has been a racist. Whether you like it or don’t like it … Most of the people in this room happen to not like it.”
In a statement from Jasmine Harris, the Black media director for the Biden-Harris reelection campaign, she said that Trump was “an incompetent anti-Black tyrant.”
“The audacity of Donald Trump to speak to a room full of Black voters during Black History Month as if he isn’t the proud poster boy for modern racism,” Harris said. “This is the same man who falsely accused the Central Park 5, questioned George Floyd’s humanity, compared his own impeachment trial to being lynched, and ensured the unemployment gap for Black workers spiked during his presidency.”