African American Democrats thundered against Donald Trump’s appeal to their communities, condemning the candidate as a racist, sexist, bigot who didn’t care about black people — despite his assurance that as president he would care for the black communities.
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) asserted that there were no people of color at Trump’s recent campaign rallies, during a conference call organized by the Hillary Clinton campaign on Tuesday.
“I resent very much that he would go and say that he is talking about people of color in an environment where there were no people of color,” she said.
Fudge described the Trump campaign as “a bad episode of Seinfeld” that began as a “campaign about nothing” but had became a “campaign of hate.”
New York City Public Advocate Leticia James asserted on the call that even though Trump appeared to be speaking to African-Americans, he actually was sending a more subversive message.
“Donald Trump wasn’t speaking to the African-American community, he was speaking to the right-wing fringe and he was basically perpetuating stereotypes,” James said, criticizing Trump for throwing out “buzzwords” like “war zones and unemployment.”
Trump urged the African-American community to vote for him in recent rallies, arguing that Democrats like Hillary Clinton hadn’t actually improved their lives.
“Look at how much African American communities are suffering from Democratic control,” Trump said during a rally in Michigan. “To those I say the following: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose? You live 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?”
Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D – NC), the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, condemned Trump for “ignoring our community,” asserting that his words were “an absolute insult.” He also argued that if Trump cared about black people he “would not dismiss those in Black Lives Matter,”
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) accused Trump of making it harder for black Americans to find housing or employment in his real estate establishments.
“We reject his overtures. Too little too late,” she said.
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) accused Trump of his “perpetual racist lies” throughout his career, specifically pointing to the Republican presidential nominee challenging President Barack Obama to answer questions about his birth certificate.
Trump, Meeks asserted, had “shown himself to be one of the most racist, sexist and bigoted candidates to try to become president in modern history.”
He informed reporters that Donald Trump turned down invitations to speak to African Americans at the NAACP and the Urban League conventions.
“Clearly he doesn’t want to talk to the black community, he wants to talk at the black community,” he said.