Anyone shocked by this isn’t paying attention:
Instead of speaking to the congregation at Great Faith Ministries International, Mr. Trump had planned to be interviewed by its pastor in a session that would be closed to the public and the news media, with questions submitted in advance. And instead of letting Mr. Trump be his freewheeling self, his campaign prepared lengthy answers for the submitted questions, consulting black Republicans to make sure he says the right things.
An eight-page draft script obtained by The New York Times shows 12 questions that Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, the pastor, intends to ask Mr. Trump in the taped question-and-answer session, as well as the responses Mr. Trump is being advised to give. […]
The document includes the exact wording of answers the aides are proposing for Mr. Trump to give to questions about police killings, racial tension and the perception among many black voters that he and the Republican Party are racist, among other topics.
The official said the answers could change based on feedback from the black Republicans they are consulting with. […]
Bishop Jackson said Thursday that he saw no problem with the campaign’s asking to screen his questions, and noted that in the past he had given advance text of prayers he planned to deliver at the White House.
Having a prayer screened before they it is delivered at the White House is a far cry from helping a racist, bigoted presidential candidate reshape his image with a group of Americans he has denigrated, insulted, and maligned. Bishop Jackson should hang his holy head in shame.
As I have said before, this is nothing but a heavily-stagecrafted effort by Trump to prove to white voters that he’s not a racist bigot. Nothing that happens tomorrow is intended to convince black voters in Detroit and elsewhere that they should vote for the candidate most likely to make their lives worse.
Trump has also planned a tour of Detroit’s ruin porn with Ben Carson that will give him an opportunity to blame the implosion of America’s manufacturing cities on Democrats. It’s a two-dimensional cartoon version of actual history that skips over the realities like redlining, urban disinvestment, and racially discriminatory hiring practices that have created the crises in our inner cities, all the result of policies promoted by Republicans and corporatists like Trump.
Donald Trump is a disgrace and a stain on our fine country. In our effort to always strive to form a more perfect union, Trump’s campaign is a monumental step in the opposite direction. The rest of the world is watching and Donald Trump must not just be beaten by Hillary Clinton on November 8, 2016, he must be crushed.
[Photo by Gage Skidmore | Flickr]
