Commentary, National

‘There is No New Donald Trump’: Michiganders Reject Trump Ahead of Detroit Visit


MICHIGAN–(ENEWSPF)–September 2, 2016. Ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to Detroit on Saturday, Michiganders are continuing to reject Donald Trump’s extreme rhetoric, divisive policies, and incitement of hate groups. Trump has a history of racial discrimination; at the start of his career, he was sued by the Department of Justice for refusing to rent apartments to Black and Latino tenants. As the Republican presidential nominee, he refused to immediately disavow support from white supremacists, including former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Donald Trump has already shown Michiganders who he is, they believe him, and they know there is no new Donald Trump.

See below for a roundup of local coverage ahead of Donald Trump’s visit tomorrow.

Michigan GOP leaders should reject Trump
Detroit Free Press (Op-ed) // Rick Blocker
If Donald Trump really thinks he can win over the votes of African Americans who are deeply skeptical about his candidacy with a single visit to Detroit this Labor Day weekend, he’s in for a rude awakening. You could ask virtually any black voter in Detroit how he or she feels  about Donald Trump — at the grocery store, in a beauty salon, or after Sunday church service — and you’d be hard-pressed to find a single person who hasn’t been offended by Trump’s racially charged rhetoric. Since his very first day as a candidate for president, Trump has made it crystal clear that his entire campaign would be focused on dividing Americans along racial lines. Trump has made so many deeply offensive and racist remarks, it’s almost hard to keep track.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” It’s time for us as voters to hold our state elected officials to this high standard and show the world that Michigan is stronger when we reject the racism of Trump together

African Americans in Michigan are wary of Donald Trump’s outreach
Detroit Free Press // Niraj Warikoo
Flowers and other pastors also cited what they say is Trump’s record of denigrating minority groups, citing reports he discriminated against blacks in housing and his recent history of supporting false “birther” claims that President Barack Obama is not really American.

“He wants to ‘Make America Great Again,'” Rev. Flowers said, referring to Trump’s campaign slogan. “What America is he talking about? During Jim Crow? When America was all white? His slogan is an inherently racist statement.”

The Rev. Charles C. Adams, pastor of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit, which has about 7,000 members, said he’s not planning to attend.

“Trump does not have any urban agenda that will improve the quality of life of citizens in Detroit and similar cities,” Adams said. He said his plans for corporate tax cuts are “a return to voodoo economics that didn’t work under the Reagan administration.”

Adams added that Trump’s depiction of black life as a war zone and all gloom is inaccurate and condescending.

“He’s insulting the black community,” Adams said. “He says, ‘What do we have to lose?’ We have everything to lose, including all the gains we fought for and died for in the civil rights movement.”

Ahead of Trump’s visit to Detroit, local and national leaders speak out
Tell Us Detroit // Karen Hudson Samuels

From Trump’s refusal to disavow the support of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke to his questioning the first African American president’s citizenship, Napoleon said “Trump has proven time and again that he is an incredibly divisive figure who should never be allowed to step foot in the White House.”

Also on the call was Bishop Corletta Vaughn, Senior Pastor at the Holy Ghost Cathedral. “As someone who works to instill good morals and strong ethics among my parishioners, I can say with full confidence that Donald Trump does not embody the core values that our communities and Michigan families hold dear.”

During the call, Detroit public school teacher, Brenda Jones said as a teacher, she finds this election cycle extremely alarming. “These children are hearing terrible attacks that put people down based on their race or religion, and pits them against their friends. They are hearing that name-calling is ok, and that making fun of people who are different is the norm. Donald Trump simply cannot be allowed to become our next president – our greatest role model for our children.”

Donald Trump’s Detroit visit won’t sway African American voters, Clinton supporters say
MLive // Emily Lawler
“There is no pivot. There is no new Donald Trump,” said Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon on a press call organized by the Clinton campaign.

Bishop Corletta Vaughn, senior pastor of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of Faith in Detroit, was on the press call as well. She said she declined an invitation to meet with Trump months ago and has concerns about his pending visit. “The African American community is very concerned about that. We are very concerned that Mr. Trump is in our community in one of our premier churches. And we are also concerned that we will not, as a community, will not be able to address him in our community and our context,” Vaughn said.

Dems Question Trump’s Sincerity with Visit to Poor Area
Detroit News // Chad Livengood
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s planned visit Saturday to an African-American church service in Detroit will take the New York billionaire into one of the city’s poorest ZIP codes as some black leaders question his sincerity about their plight.

“The fact is no matter what Donald Trump says when he arrives, there is no pivot. There is no new Donald Trump,” Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said Thursday. “He’s the same divisive presidential candidate he’s always been.”

Jackson has been under fire all week from some fellow Detroit ministers for letting Trump into his church and keeping the doors closed to the public. “It is a very large concern to faith leaders here in the city that we will not have an opportunity to challenge him,” said Corletta Vaughn, senior pastor at Holy Ghost Cathedral on Grand Boulevard. Clinton spoke at Vaughn’s church two days before the March 8 Democratic presidential primary, which she narrowly lost to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Vaughn denounced Trump’s visit Thursday in a media conference call with Napoleon that was organized by the Clinton campaign. “We certainly are not going to embrace this very maligned attempt to bring some clarity of who he is to the African-American community,” she said.

Detroit-Area Democrats Raise Concerns With Forthcoming Trump Visit
Gongwer News Service // Danielle Emerson
Perhaps the most significant criticism on a conference call hosted by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign came from U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking African-American serving in Congress. He said he was “not a bit amused” by what was being said and done in the Trump campaign. “I am afraid that a lot of what people are saying and doing could have lasting consequences for our children and grandchildren as we try to build a better country for them to inherit,” Mr. Clyburn said.

And Bishop Corletta Vaughn, senior pastor at the Holy Ghost Cathedral, said she had “grave concerns about this election and where we are heading as country.”

“The African-American community is concerned about that, that (Mr. Trump) is in our community, in one of our premiere churches, and that we as a community won’t be able to address him,” Ms. Vaughn said. “He is still the same Mr. Trump, and there will be some protests on the outside. We certainly will not embrace this maligned attempt to bring some clarity of who he is to the African-American community.”

Trump Faces Long Odds with African American Voters
Detroit Free Press // Kathy Gray
Trump’s positions and some of his behavior have convinced many African Americans that he is not a candidate they can support. Trump was a leader of the so-called “birther” movement, questioning whether Obama was a U.S. citizen. Recently, at an appearance in Michigan the GOP nominee, in trying to convince African Americans to vote for him asked: “What the hell do you have to lose?”

“I’ve almost tuned him out. He’s said enough stupid things that I don’t have to listen to him anymore,” said Thom Gatson, 63, of Detroit.

“No matter what Donald Trump says when he arrives, there is no pivot,” said Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napolean, who ran for mayor of Detroit in 2013. “He’s the same divisive and extreme presidential candidate that he’s always been.”

Bankole: Bishop should let voters question Trump
Detroit News (Column) // Bankole Thompson
Though Jackson has insisted the Saturday interview on the Impact Television Network is not a rally or an endorsement of the Republican nominee for president, Trump should take questions from Jackson’s church members and other concerned voters.

But unfortunately the Trump-Jackson engagement this weekend does not seem to be a civic education exercise designed to illuminate issues important to the well-being of blacks. It is a desperate attempt by a candidate who is poised to lose badly in the black community and now wants to stop or slow his downward spiral among African Americans.

Detroit pastor set to ask Trump: ‘Are you a racist?’
Detroit News // Chad Livengood
Jonathan Kinloch, chairman of the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party in Detroit, said it “disgusts” him that any local black leaders would want to meet with Trump after some of his controversial statements, suggesting they are “trying to carve out some sort of positive benefits” for themselves.

“There is no appeal to black voters,” Kinloch said of Trump’s recent messaging to black voters. “He has not demonstrated any inkling of a sense of understanding or passion or caring for black folks up until this time. I think what he’s doing is basically trying to create a conversation to become this softer, gentler, kinder Donald Trump that does not exist.”

Detroit pastor says Donald Trump, ‘shouldn’t be coming, asking for our votes’
MLive // Benjamin Raven
Rideout appeared on CNN Monday night to discuss the protest and his feelings on Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, the man hosting and interviewing Trump.

“I am going to protest him even coming here, him even asking for black African-American voters, Latino votes, or anyone else for that matter,” Rideout said in the interview. “So, we’re going to let him know that we don’t want him here. “We don’t want him as our president, and, bottom line, you shouldn’t be coming, asking for our votes after the way you have treated the black African-American culture.”

Source: http://hillaryclinton.com

 

 

 


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