Attendees applaud as former president Donald Trump speaks during a community roundtable at 180 Church in Detroit, Michigan, on June 15, 2024. | Source: The Washington Post / Getty
, America’s top felon, is continuing his presidential campaign by employing some of the same smoke and mirror tactics to attract the Black vote. During a
“Blacks For Trump” event in Detroit over the weekend, observers online couldn’t help but notice that there was a significantly high number of white folks in the crowd despite the aims of the rally.
Donald Trump made his way through two campaign events on Saturday and from several accounts, one side showed support while the other side was less than enthusiastic.
According to
Politico, Trump’s campaign stop at the Turning Point Action conference in downtown Detroit was filled with some of the former president’s loyal flock decked out in the finest of MAGA wear as expected. It was the kind of spectacle Trump relishes and positions him as a larger-than-life character ready to take on the so-called “radical left.”
On the other side of town at the 180 Church, it frankly didn’t appear to be that many Black folks there for Trump although the business mogul somehow managed to get
Dr. Ben Carson out of his conservative coffin for a spell to speak to the crowd. From the outlet’s account and those seen online, Trump has a long way in winning over Black voters in the battleground state of Michigan and especially its urban centers.
Seeing through the okie-doke, a heckler at the church event asked Trump about his handling of the COVID-19 situation and also told the presidential hopeful to “drink some bleach” among other comments. Further, attendees didn’t clap for Trump’s anti-immigrant jab about stolen jobs by illegal aliens but did support an attack on “gender ideology.”
Earlier that day, Trump’s campaign team began pushing messaging out for a “Black Americans for Trump” initiative set to launch along with the Juneteenth holiday. The initiative boasted support from prominent Black figures from all walks of life, including beleaguered former Detroit Mayor and fellow felon Kwame Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick most likely did the solid as Trump commuted his sentence.
In response, the campaign team for President Joe Biden released a comment from Detroit Pastor James Perkins who aimed shots at Trump.
“Every time Trump opens his mouth to talk to Black folks, he demonizes us, insults us, and makes empty promises he’ll never keep,” Perkins said.
These efforts may have some effect but slim as Trump lost Wayne County to Biden in the last presidential election. The entire county leans towards the Democratic Party and polls suggest those results will be repeated.
On X, formerly Twitter, folks are reacting to Donald Trump and his struggle “Blacks For Trump” event. See those replies below.
