Donald Trump’s Efforts to Connect with Black Voters Are Pushing Them Away

 

By Les Payne

A black Methodist minister gave Donald Trump the “Apollo hook” Wednesday, when he went off message in Michigan.

“I invited you here to thank us for what we’ve done [with the dirty-water crisis] in Flint, not give a political speech,” said the Rev. Faith Timmons. 

“OK, that’s good,” said the duly chastised GOP presidential candidate like a rejected performer in the old talent shows at the Apollo Theater.

Showcasing his “black outreach” for the second time in Michigan, Trump has generally avoided African-Americans that know him best: the 2 million-plus living in New York City. During an earlier visit in Detroit, Trump was guided by the gifted hands of the slow-tongued Dr. Ben Carson, who seemed as clueless about the real intent of the “black outreach” campaign as he was about the location of his luggage.

A major Harlem church was recently contacted for a Sunday Trump visit but the pastor laughed so uncontrollably that the black campaign official hung up the phone. The Baptist minister rejected Trump as a Trojan horse all hollowed out as a threat to Harlem and the country’s best interest.

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Source: Newsday

Les Payne is a former Newsday editor and columnist and a contributor to TheRoot.com. He is completing a biography on Malcolm X due to be published next year.