WASHINGTON – President Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the work he has done for Black America, focusing on his administration funding for black colleges and universities, the creation of so-called opportunity areas, and criminal justice reform.
But on Monday, Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, played into a racist stance, questioning whether Black Americans “wanted to succeed” despite what Mr. Trump had said for them.
“One thing we’ve seen in many black communities, most of which are Democrats, is that President Trump’s policies are policies that can help people get out of the problems they’re complaining about.” An interview with the President’s favorite morning cable show “Fox and Friends”. “But they don’t want to be more successful than they want to be.”
In an interview, Mr. Kushner said that after the assassination of George Floyd in May, a black man, in police custody – an occasion that demonstrated global opposition to systemic racism, and what Mr. Kushner called the “George Floyd situation.” “- Many people were more concerned with” solutions “than with” solutions “.
“They would go and cry on Instagram, or they would shout slogans on their jerseys or write something on the basketball court,” he said, referring to NBA players like LeBron James who joined national protests over the issue of police brutality. “And quite frankly, he was doing more to polarize the country than to move it forward,” he said. “You solve problems with solutions.”
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Mr. Kushner’s remarks elicited a scathing response from Gwen Moore, a Wisconsin Black Democrat. That Tweeted: “Trust Fund Baby Slim Ord Kushner who has enriched herself in the WH takes a long time with a silver spoon out of her mouth to set foot with racist trolls about black people and success.”
The Democratic National Committee was just as rigid.
“According to the Trump administration, when African Americans find a flaw in policies for a historic global epidemic for black families, an explosion in racial inequalities and wealth gaps, and an uncontrolled global epidemic that has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 black Americans. That we just don’t want to succeed badly, “said Brandon Gasave, the committee’s national press secretary. “This negative approach to the issue that black voters care about is indicative of Trump’s toughness and disregard for the lives of black people.”
White House Press Secretary Kyle McKinney defended Mr. Kushner, saying his remarks were taken out of context. She accused an unnamed “internet troll” of “trying to deviate from President Trump’s undisputed record for the black community.”
Mr. Trump’s repeated references to claims for Black America, after entering the White House, have always been accompanied by the most obvious false claims he has made: that he has done more for Black Americans than any president. Possible exception to Abraham Lincoln.
In his discussion Thursday night, his Democratic opponent, Joseph R. Biden Jr. mocks the claim made by the President. “Abraham Lincoln is one of the most racist presidents in modern history here,” he said, looking at Mr. Trump. “It will add fuel to every racist fire. Each one. “
And Mr. Trump has exaggerated his success.
“When it comes to HBCU, the idea that Trump has done something tremendous or different rejects the logic,” said Leah Wright Riguera, a professor of public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School, referring to historically black colleges and universities. “Every president since Ronald Reagan has done the same thing. They used the same language as Barack Obama in the 2017 executive order. “
Mr. Trump’s legislation has been praised for signing the Criminal Justice Bill – warning that players, including billionaire coach brothers, had a bipartisan alliance before Trump took an interest in the issue. .
According to a study released this summer by the Urban Institute, the tax for the Opportunity Zone, constantly cited by Mr. Trump, creates relatively few jobs.
A recent CBS News poll found that 85 percent of registered black voters felt that Mr. Trump as president “favors whites.” One percent of those voters said it “works” against black people.
But Mr Kushner said in an interview that he was hearing from Trump campaign state directors across the country about the “support base in the black community” because he was realizing that all the bad things the media and Democrats had said about President Trump were true. No. “
Top campaign officials have said their goal is to win at least 10 percent of black voters’ votes in November, and a two percent increase in presidential support among black voters could win the election. In 2016, Mr. Trump won only 8 percent of the black electorate.
