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At this moment, we're less than a week away from" who knows what? Knowing only that the first Black woman -- or, for that matter, woman -- may enter the White House as president (she's been there before, of course, as vice president) or that Disintegrating Donald, the guy who sounds ever more dangerously off the wall and could already be one of this planet's more malignant narcissists, will return to the Oval Office where, in the first "two seconds" of his presidency, he will "fire" special counsel Jack Smith, toss the cases against him in the trash can of history, and then he, or the Project 2025 types around him, will make sure that this country is never" well, this country, again.
Phew, that was a long sentence. And it's true that these endlessly disturbing months have lasted (or so it seems) one hell of a long time, while we wait to see whether You Know Who might indeed be reelected and, this time, truly change the very political world we've lived in, or whether he'll lose the vote and yet this country might descend into some kind of almost unimaginable post-election chaos. Of course, what do you expect in a land whose citizenry (one in every 20 of us) is reputed to own 20 million -- no, that is not a misprint! -- AR-15 rifles. (Indeed, they are still called "rifles," even though they bear a greater relationship to submachine guns and are anything but obvious weapons for hunters, unless your prey happens to be other human beings.)
Of course, we won't know anything until at least next Tuesday night, if not -- heaven help us -- well beyond that. In the meantime, as you prepare to cast your ballot, let TomDispatch regular Clarence Lusane, author of Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy, consider the Black case against The Donald, the man who (as Lusane has written in the past) has engaged in a "never-ending seemingly malevolent war against Black women." Tom
The Black Case Against Donald Trump
Hold Trump Accountable for a Lifetime of Anti-Black Racism
Donald Trump was the worst president for Black people in the modern era, if not the nation's history. Given a life of unremitting racial animus, under no circumstances should he receive a single vote from the Black community or other communities of color. After all, he's never moderated his white nationalist sentiments and count on this: he never will.
Yet, somehow, he has indeed managed to win support from a sliver of the Black community. In 2016, he captured 6% of its vote and that rose to 8% in his losing effort four years later. No, those weren't the large numbers he claimed he would win, but given who he is and what he's done his entire life, including during his presidency, far more than he deserved. In 2024, it's still likely that he'll only receive single-digit backing, despite earlier polls showing Black support of anywhere from 15%-20% or more, particularly among men.
An early October poll of Black registered voters in battleground states from Howard University's polling service, the Howard Initiative on Public Opinion (HIPO), exposed Trump's lie that he's winning Black voters in large numbers. HIPO (in which I participate) found that 84% of those polled said they planned to vote for Vice President Harris, while only about 8% would vote for Trump, with others undecided or leaning toward a third-party candidate. That's hardly a great number for the former president, but even a tiny shift toward him or away from Harris might be just enough to give him an Electoral College victory.
Trump has indeed been endorsed by a number of marginalized Black rappers and celebrities. Some were pardoned or given clemency by him, including former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kirkpatrick, rappers Kodak Black and Lil Wayne, and Death Row Records founder Michael "Harry O" Harris and now the political bill has come due. Black members of Congress like Senator Tim Scott and Representative Byron Donalds have also become ubiquitous on Fox News and other stations praising Trump as the second coming of the Lord almighty. Self-interest goes a long way in explaining support from that crowd, but not from those who haven't been in the spotlight.
How is it possible that a buffoonish bigot who seems to be deteriorating daily has convinced some African Americans he deserves their vote? The trick lies in Trump's flimflam talents.
He certainly has a knack for diverting attention. His vulgar, ceaseless racist statements and provocations -- "shithole countries," "They're eating the pets," and "fine people on both sides" -- served the dual purpose of feeding his white base its diet of racial venom and diverting attention from the policies of his administration that caused generational harm to African Americans and other communities of color. And count on one thing: if he returns to the White House, even more racially devastating policies await.
The excuse given by some of his Black (and white) supporters, uncomfortable with his blatant racism, is that he might be crude, temperamental, and a global embarrassment, but his "policies" while in office were distinct positives for the Black community and the country as a whole. Such policy benefits, they assert, should outweigh any reservations about voting for him. In particular, the "Trump economy" is dangled as proof that he should be supported, no matter what.
Unfortunately, much of the media instantly heads for the latest shiny thing dropped by Trump. The more outrageous, the more the coverage steers away from his policies and the devastation they might cause to his behavior and his words. It's time instead to take an honest look at Trump's corporate-friendly, white supremacist record while in office as it impacted the Black community.
Trump's Economy Did Not Do What He Claimed
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