Friday on MSNBC’s “Deadline,” National Action Network head and network host Al Sharpton said President Donald Trump’s “war” on African-Americans like Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-CA) would end up energizing a high turnout among minority voters, potentially to the levels that voted for President Barack Obama.
Sharpton said, “I think he will end up energizing people that may not have come out. People keep saying he’s energizing his base like there’s no base on the other side. I think what he’s going to end up doing is make turnout much higher than it would have been. He gains nothing by doing this because every three he out, there will be five that didn’t vote in ’16. Don’t forget the black vote went down, and there is room for him to grow. Who’s growing it is Donald Trump.”
He continued, “Nobody could believe it. If any believed in any of those cities, Detroit, he won Michigan, Milwaukee he, won Wisconsin. Philadelphia, he won Pennsylvania, if they believed this guy would be president and a threat, I think he would have seen a turnout then. The Clinton people were acting like this was all in the bag. I had a friend two weeks before the campaign ordering their gowns to the inauguration. And I think now he is the president, he has said and done these things. Who sits up and acts in such a callous manner about a congressman having his house broken into? Can you imagine in Barack Obama had done that and this is the kind of ugliness that are going to make people come out.”
He added, “The example I raise is Alabama. When you saw the Democrat in Alabama get a bigger turnout than Barack Obama did, it was in reaction, and I think the same effect is going to have on Donald Trump if he continues it. He’s declared war. He comes after Elijah Cummings, and he comes after everybody. He really is going to energize the vote. He attacked me this week. Membership went up on National Action Network.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.