Former President Donald Trump seemingly softened his controversial comments on Black jobs—now referring to them as “African American jobs”—and remarks made about Vice President Kamala Harris “turning Black” during the presidential debate in Philadelphia.
“I don’t care what she is,” Trump said. “I don’t care. You make a big deal out of something. I couldn’t care less. Whatever she wants to be is okay with me.”
Trump was forced to face his comments head-on. However, his lack of carelessness does not sit well with hundreds of thousands of Black Americans, further proven after he and vice-presidential nominee JD Vance spread misinformation about Haitian immigrants eating household pets in Springfield, Ohio.
While addressing the media in the spin room following the debate, White House Correspondent and MSNBC Analyst April Ryan questioned Trump about what Black voters thought of the debate. Trump answered, “I love Black voters, and they love me too.”
The truth is Trump is not lying about his love for the Black vote. The presidential nominee and Republicans have made a more concerted effort to appeal to Black Americans, from Amber Rose testifying her realization of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement at the Republican National Convention to having rappers like Sada Baby, Sleepy Hollow, Sheff G and Icewear Vezzo as surrogates during campaign events.
Much of the momentum from the hip-hop community this election season can be attributed to Trump’s 34 felony convictions, as his campaign has tried to make him appear more “relatable” to Black Americans because of his criminal history.
Trump knows that gaining Black supporters would make all the difference for his campaign come November. In 2020, just 2% of Trump supporters were Black voters, compared to 19% of those who cast their ballots for Biden, according to Pew Research Center. This, coupled with the recent low approval ratings of President Biden, gave Trump the motivation to secure the Black vote.
Still, Trump’s “love” for Black voters does not equate to policies that the Trump administration would implement to benefit Black Americans. When asked about plans to replace Obamacare during the debate, Trump said he currently doesn’t have a plan––though he and other Republicans have been trying to get rid of it for nearly 15 years.
In reality, the Affordable Care Act has helped Black Americans gain historic access to healthcare, bringing the percentage of those uninsured from 20.9% in 2010 to 10.8% in 2022, the HHS found. Cutting it would mean nearly 30 million Americans would become uninsured.
Trump also mentioned implementing taxes on imported goods and services, but increased tariffs would equate to higher prices on groceries, gas and other household items, putting more burden on Americans who are struggling with inflation rates. Not to mention, the Trump administration would reduce the corporate tax rate to 15%.
There is also much to be said about Project 2025–the plan Trump is unfamiliar with, though his constituents seem to be—and its policies concerning Black Americans. These include the dissolvement of the Department of Education and, subsequently, Title I funding, a rollback on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, among other things.
If we’re being honest, Donald Trump showed Black Americans how much he cared about us after he aggressively fought a 1973 discrimination lawsuit against him and his father for refusing to rent to Black tenants, with applications filed by Black apartment seekers marked with a “C’’ for “colored.”
He showed us again after he took out a full-page ad calling for the death penalty of five Black and Hispanic boys, the now Exonerated Five, in 1989, and again when he refused to acknowledge his wrongdoing during the debate in 2024.
New York City Councilman Yusef Salaam was present for the comments and Trump’s media address following the debate, during which he confronted the former president and told him he was one of the Exonerated Five.
Trump replied, in pure irony and to no one’s surprise, “That’s good, you’re on my side.”
