Courting black voters: Trump should double-down.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Dimondale, Mich.. Friday, Aug. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

For the sake of his re-election bid and for the sake of the country, President Trump should finish what he started on August 19, 2016. Speaking at a campaign event in Dimondale, Michigan, candidate Donald Trump said this:

Look how much African-American communities have suffered under Democratic control. To those I say the following; what do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump? What do you have to lose? I say it again, what do you have to lose? What do you have to lose? You’re living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. Fifty eight percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?”

The answer was then and is now, nothing.

It seems lost on elite, condescending coastal Democrats, lefty journalists (but I repeat myself) and virtually all of the commentariat, that all of the high-profile police shootings – from Ferguson to Baltimore to Minneapolis – happen in cities that have been under single-party Democratic control for decades.

The constantly simmering unrest, the unhappiness, the grinding, generational poverty and the crime that grips so much of the minority population in the United States is found in greatest concentration in Democrat-run cities.

In cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Detroit, the schools don’t work, businesses have fled, gangs rule the streets, the police have largely given up and hopelessness hangs in the air like a smog that never lifts. The resulting misery falls in staggering disproportion upon the black residents of these broken cities.

Despite the suffering of black residents, the smug liberals who dominate local politics – many of them profoundly corrupt – confidently take black voters for granted. When re-election time rolls around, these pols tell black voters all about how they’re down for the struggle and feel their pain and are committed to the cause and blah, blah, blah.

Election Day then comes and, as it has been for more than half a century, Democrats get 90-plus percent of the black vote.

And then nothing changes.

Donald Trump, at that speech in Michigan, became the first Republican presidential candidate in modern times to court black voters in such an overt way. Prior to Trump asking the painfully obvious question – ‘What the hell do you have to lose?,’ – the received wisdom among Republican campaign “experts” was that the “black vote” was a total write off for Republicans. Better to concentrate time and energy and money on other portions of the demographic spectrum that will yield a better return on investment.

Trump knows better. He knows that if the Democratic share of black voters falls below about 85 percent, Democrats cannot win the White House.

He also knows that for every angry, brick-throwing black protester there are Lord alone knows how many hard working, law abiding black men and women who are fed up with being taken for granted.

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Paul Gleiser

Paul L. Gleiser is president of ATW Media, LLC, licensee of radio stations KTBB 97.5 FM/AM600, 92.1 The TEAM FM in Tyler-Longview, Texas.

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16 Responses

  1. Pete Fasanello says:

    I think the Democrats are very concerned about losing the black vote and as such they are now courting the immigrant and gay communities to make up the difference

  2. Darrell Durham says:

    If Trump were to develop a plan to actually address the problems facing black people and somehow get it passed before the election he would likely win. The democrats are pulling out all stops to avoid a Trump victory. They could finally be exposed as the lip-service frauds they are if they failed to pass such a bill. I do agree there are MANY hard working, law abiding black people in America that are fed up with the status quo. They are the ones Biden accused of not being black. They are also accused of the same thing (by other blacks) if they are found to align too closely with conservative views. But facts can’t be ignored. Their lives are NOT getting better with democrats driving the (gravy) train.

  3. Michael Reagan says:

    We all have to keep in mind, the Lefties in the media are cherry picking their segments and doing all they can to sway the ignorant that all is lost and voting for Trump will be a failed exercise. TAKE HEART! Just like the polls of 2016 and the current polls (even FOX ) that show Trump behind by a ton is a bunch of bull. Many of my friends and buddies of all color are intelligent enough to know what is going on. None of the folks of color I know (I know a whole bunch)are NOT voting democrat; all will vote for Trump because of his character and “can do” attitude. They remember Obama telling those folks in Michigan or Ohio (cannot remember the exact state) manufacturing jobs will not return, they are gone. Under Obama and the Dems, they were gone never to return. That one item sticks out in my buddies’ minds. Most are blue collar Americans to the core. And they are all intelligent and red blooded Texan/Americans. I see them as representing blue collar Americans all across the land. I am really excited about our future, regardless of all this garbage taking place. We only need to get through it and have an election. Caveat: Get ready for a ramped up effort on the part of the left as we get near the election date. Do not let your guard down and do not believe the mainstream media’s lies and deceit.

  4. Brendan says:

    Have black communities benefited from the last four years?

  5. Richard Anderson says:

    Great piece Mr. Gleiser.

    President Trump is the candidate of the party of Abraham Lincoln, the Republican party, the party of FREEDOM, PROSPERITY, JUSTICE, and GOODNESS. Many black leaders know, with more black citizens of goodwill coming over daily, that he best represents them and their interests for an even brighter future for their families and our country.

    On the left [wrong] side of the political equation, are the democrats, whose bad history and corrupt ideology has much in common with the very essence of what is fostering the attack upon our grand country. They simply do NOT like AMERICA AS FOUNDED. To them, America is evil. NOTHING could be further from the TRUTH! The United States of America is GOOD, filled with millions of GOOD people, and the greatest nation ever created upon God’s green Earth!

    The democrat party ranks in stark contrast are filled with those who are not only sympathetic but of those who are overtly complicit in the lawless attack upon America as founded in 1776, as set down in The Declaration of Independence, and in our Constitution.
    The Black Lives Matter group & Antifa, are marxist, communist, fascist, anti-America haters rolled into one evil cabal. These militants are the ENEMY of Law and Order,* *i.e. The United States of America as Founded in 1776. The evil fruit of these individuals is apparent in their violence toward ALL Americans of goodwill, the destruction of private property, the unprovoked attacks on defenseless persons, the unlawful toppling of historic AMERICAN statues, and the burning & looting of businesses. They have left only death and destruction in their wake. It must be noted that these are the very same evil benchmarks of the Bolsheviks and of the Nazis. In short, they are NO FRIEND of ANY real red blooded American ever.

    If you are a person of goodwill who loves AMERICA, raise your voice and fight back against the evil doers who would tear down our blessed Republic, One Nation under God, if given the chance. We must NOT give them that chance.

    VOTE for President Trump, and straight Republican down ballot on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. God bless America.

  6. 2020 black vote?
    Anyone care to make it intere$ting?

  7. Brendan says:

    Mr. Anderson, wasn’t slavery protected by the constitution until 1865? Didn’t it it take an amendment to the Constitution to allow women and black men to vote?

    Is it fair to say that America as written by the founding fathers was a little unfinished as being the land of the free?

    • Paul Gleiser says:

      It is quite fair to say that America was “unfinished.” It remains so and will always remain so.

      It is also quite fair to say that America did away with slavery within one human lifetime of its founding. In the sweep of human history, that fact is remarkable. And it constitutes a far better record on slavery than that of Great Britain. Great Britain practiced slavery for centuries starting from before the Roman occupation in 43 AD. Britain was one of the largest participants in the Atlantic slave trade until slavery was abolished by Parliament’s Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

      Slavery was a fact of life that had to be dealt with by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Many were greatly discomfited by its very existence, including some of the delegates from southern states. Slavery being an institution that had come to America with its colonization by English settlers, wiping it out in a single stroke wasn’t feasible — the sanctimonious pronouncements of critics of the 21st century notwithstanding.

      To judge the actions of 18th century men by 21st century standards is ignorant, facile and simple-minded. Doing so betrays a gross ignorance of human history and the evolution of societies and governments. There is no purity in the affairs of humans. Humans are flawed and, as a result, the institutions that they create will be flawed.

      With that said, no nation or society in the 5,000-plus years of recorded human history has freed more people from bondage and lifted more people out of poverty than the United States. And no nation or empire has ever amassed so much economic and military power and yet been so restrained in its use.

  8. Brendan says:

    I was just asking a few questions, sir. I wasn’t trying to judge 18th century men by 21st century standards, (nor is my grasp of history simpleminded or facile). I was simply trying to ask how black communities have benefited from the last four years of the Trump administration.

    • Paul Gleiser says:

      Short answer to your question. The lowest unemployment rate for African Americans since data began being collected. The fastest wage gains among African Americans since data began being collected. All of this prior to COVID which has had a profound impact on the economic fortunes of every demographic group in America.

    • Michael Reagan says:

      If your grasp of history is not (your words) simpleminded and facile, why ask the questions you asked? Bit confused by your posts and content. Granted, we cannot sit across the table and look at each other; but went back and read your comments. Since President Trump started undoing many of the lefts regulations and suppressive ideology, EVERYONE has greatly benefited financially, socially, and emotionally (do you have a 401K or stocks?). EVEN with the Dems incredible attempts to derail his Presidency. Don’t forget the outrageously fraudulent narrative ALL Democrats perpetuated in collusion with 90% of the media, to Impeach our President. Surely you kept up with all this? Insane aspect is the Dems will not stop hurting all of us, especially the African America community who gained so much, in nothing short of a total power grab to oust President Trump. They care not for anyone period. The ONLY goal is get Trump out. That should scare the hell out of any sane person.

  9. Brendan says:

    I can honestly say that I now definitely understand your viewpoints. I was asking questions and presenting a dissenting opinion to try to better understand a point of view different than my own. Your messages have been received.

  10. Ron Eagleman says:

    If one considers a job, home ownership, and an overall improvement in living standards as positives, Blacks have indeed benefited from the policies of the Trump administration. Sadly, the Democrats do not consider these accomplishments as positive. Anything that will allow the Black constituency to become less dependent on government largess is definitely a negative for their prospects for power. Maintaining control of the educational system tightens the left’s grip on these voters, as uneducated citizens are less likely to realize they are still on the Democrat plantation. Trump has been making an effort to reach out to the Black community, and if he is successful in eroding even 15%, the Democrat party will be in the minority for decades. Why do you think these plantation owners are trying so hard to import replacement voters?

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