Donald Trump to African-Americans: “What do you have to lose?” https://t.co/3tKdAJzqei https://t.co/a31oCRJjhz
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) August 19, 2016
Donald Trump made jaws drop once again this week when he said African Americans should vote for him in November because they have nothing to lose.
Speaking at a rally in Dimondale, Michigan, on Friday, August 19, the Republican presidential candidate, 70, cited poverty, unemployment and a failed education system as three reasons why he believes black citizens should vote for him.
“Look at how much African American communities have suffered under Democratic control,” Trump said to his supporters. “To those hurting, I say, ‘What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump?’ You’re living in 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?”
The businessman — who only 1 percent of black voters support nationally, according to an August 4 NBC/Wall Street Journal poll — continued, “I will produce for the African Americans. And the Democrats will not produce. All they’ve done is taken advantage of your vote. If you keep voting for the same people, you will keep getting exactly the same result.”
CNN reported that Trump’s shocking comment was an “unscripted moment” from a speech that otherwise followed his scripted teleprompter.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton slammed the outrageous remark on Twitter Friday night. “This is so ignorant it’s staggering,” she wrote.
The Clinton campaign later condemned the former Celebrity Apprentice host’s Dimondale speech in a new statement.
“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,” Marlon Marshall, Clinton’s director of state campaigns and political engagement, said Friday. “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.”
Earlier on Friday, Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, resigned from his position in yet another staff recasting. As previously reported, campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was fired in June, and Breitbart News’ Steve Bannon was recently promoted to campaign CEO.
