How stupid does Trump think Black voters are? His prosecutions aren’t discrimination | Opinion

Donald Trump sure knows how to stir the pot. But if he thinks Black folks relate to him because of his alleged criminal behavior, he is sadly mistaken.

Despite Trump’s misguided remarks, data proves he has only a small fraction of support among African American voters. First, let’s note his popularity in the 2016 election among Black voters: 8%. That’s it, according to the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. He didn’t even make double digits. (Roper used exit poll results collected by Edison Research for the National Election Pool.)

In the 2020 presidential election against Joe Biden, only 12% of Black voters favored Trump, according to Roper.

In the years since, that number has not grown. Today, only 12% of Black voters support Trump, according to a USA TODAY Suffolk University poll released earlier this year.

Why would Trump think November will be better?

His recent comments that Black people favor him because he has been indicted on 91 felony charges and had his mug shot plastered all over merchandise are utterly ridiculous.

In a speech at the Black Conservative Federation’s annual gala Friday in Columbia, South Carolina, Trump — or 45 as his fans call him — went there. The former commander in chief must be taken to task for the comments he made.

“I got indicted a second time and a third time and a fourth time, and a lot of people said that 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,” Trump said. Excuse me?

Trump is one of the most powerful and influential people in this country. The notion that he is being discriminated against is laughable. As a Black man, I found little humor in his belief that his prosecution is discriminatory.

His screed didn’t end there.

“I’m being indicted for you, the American people.” Trump continued. “I’m being indicted for you, the Black population. I am being indicted for a lot of different groups by sick people, these are sick, sick people.”

If Trump seriously believes his legal troubles make him a viable candidate with Black voters, he may need to reexamine his thought process.

Sadly, the Black Conservative Federation bestowed its Champion of Black America award on the only president impeached twice. As far as I am concerned, Trump isn’t a champion of equality in minority communities.

“Some of the greatest evils in our nation’s history have come from corrupt systems that try to target and subjugate others to deny them their freedom and to deny them their rights,” Trump told the group. “I think that’s why the Black people are so much on my side now because they see what’s happening to me happens to them.”

In the speech, Trump claimed his support from Black Americans comes in the form of merchandise being sold with his mug shot on it.

“You see Black people walking around with my mug shot, you know, they do shirts and they sell them for $19 apiece,” he said. “It’s pretty amazing — millions by the way.” Count me among the Black Americans who haven’t purchased a T-shirt. Nor do I plan to.

In a statement to ABC News, Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of President Biden’s reelection campaign, said Trump’s claim that Black Americans will support him because of his criminal charges is insulting. I detect no lie there.

“It’s moronic,” Richmond said. “And it’s just plain racist.”

Called for death of exonerated Central Park Five

Others criticized Trump for his remarks, including a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee and Nikki Haley, Trump’s chief competition for the GOP’s nod for presidential nominee.

I’ve long held that unless someone flat out admits they’re racist, it is extremely difficult to make that assumption. And that is not my aim here. But Trump’s dog whistles sure do raise eyebrows.

Lest we forget, long before Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States, he took out a full-page ad in several prominent newspapers urging the death penalty for five Black teens wrongly accused of rape and assault of Trisha Meili in New York’s Central Park.

The Central Park Five — now known as the Exonerated Five — were convicted, despite no physical evidence tying them to the alleged crime.

Only after DNA linked the real killer to the crime and he confessed were the teens released from prison after serving five to 13 years behind bars.

I can’t and won’t speak for all Black people, but make no mistake: Trump’s ill-advised comments should sicken any American with a sense of decency.

In my book, his comments were racially insensitive, and outright wrong. But he’d never admit it.

None of us should expect an apology.