What did Donald Trump do today?
He said that black Americans love him, then praised the political ideology of the Confederacy.
Trump gave a speech in Virginia today noting the 400th anniversary of that state's legislature. It was boycotted by most of that body's black delegates, in protest of Trump's racist calls for Americans of color to be sent back "where they came from."
Trump responded to the boycott by saying that the protesting delegates were "fighting against their own people." Apparently by "their own people" Trump meant other African-Americans, since he went on to say that black Americans were "happy as hell" that he'd attacked majority-black cities like Baltimore and their representatives in Congress.
As of this week, Trump's approval rating among black voters was down to 6% in the most recent poll on the subject. That's actually lower than his recent average, and minority voters cited his race-baiting attacks as the reason. (Those attacks were generally unpopular with white voters, too.)
At his speech in Virginia, Trump also praised "state's rights." That was the political rallying cry of the Confederacy, which wanted state governments to be able to prevent any federal ban on slavery. Later it was adopted as a code word for pro-segregationist groups.
Why should this bother me?
- For someone who is supposedly the "least racist person there is anywhere in the world," Trump uses an awful lot of racist-approved language.
- Lying about how popular you are doesn't usually work after middle school.