It’s no secret that the Republican Party has a really hard sell to make if it hopes to win over black voters. And yet, a number of Republican talking heads have deluded themselves into thinking that one candidate could make enough inroads in the black community to tip the balance in November. Who might that man be? Wait for it–Donald Trump.
A number of Republican pollsters told Politico’s Ben Schreckinger that Trump could do far better among blacks than a typical Republican. Veteran Republican pollster Frank Luntz suggested that the blacks he’s polled find Trump “fascinating”–and they apparently find him fascinating enough that they could vote for him in numbers not seen in three decades. Ronald Reagan took 14 percent of the black vote in 1980, but Luntz boldly suggested that Trump could even top that. Another pollster who asked not to be identified agrees, saying that minorities like Trump because Trump isn’t “a white-bread socialite kind of guy.”
I have to wonder if Schreckinger and these pollsters are following the same campaign that we are. After all, for several days after a cabal of white supremacists openly declared that they are working to help Trump win the Iowa caucuses, this has been the response from the Trump campaign:
We initially thought that Trump just twiddled his thumbs on this issue. But on January 13, Trump finally got around to denouncing them on CNN. However, he couldn’t leave well enough alone; he said that “people were angry” about our immigration policy.
But there are a number of other anecdotes that should pour a cold douche on those hopes. We’ve seen at least two instances where Trump has remained silent while black protesters have been violently beaten at his rallies–once in Alabama, and once in Nevada. After the Alabama incident, Trump actually said the protester deserved to get a beating.
It looks like Trump is listening to the pollsters who think he can make any kind of inroads among blacks. Apparently he’s trying to reach out to black pastors. The last time he went that route, it went over like a lead balloon. He claimed that a slew of pastors were poised to endorse him after Thanksgiving. But it turned out they were only going to meet with him–and a number of them skipped the meeting after believing Trump was playing them like violins. And when that meeting finally took place, Trump claimed that an endorsement was coming soon–but one of the pastors who was actually there said otherwise.
In the face of all of this, how can anyone seriously believe that Trump can make inroads in the black community in November? Anyone who believes that is delusional at best.
