Trump Says ‘100 Percent of the Black People Should Vote for Trump’

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, riding high on his Super Tuesday blowout with his only contender Nikki Haley dropping out of the race, took to a podium in Rome, Georgia on Saturday for a “Get out the Vote Rally” as his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, also appeared in the battleground state in dueling campaign visits following Biden’s rousing State of the Union address.

Self-awareness does not appear to be one of Trump’s finer suits, and this speech was no exception as he opened by mocking Biden’s stutter, when Trump’s own speech was filled with plenty of gaffes. He inaccurately referred to himself as Biden’s “top and only political appointment,” called Putin “Poten,” and glitched-out, among other troubles pronouncing words during his speech. He often referred to himself in the third person, as he is wont to do.

As his campaign marches on towards the general election, Trump has not strayed too far from his usual unhinged remarks, such as claiming E. Jean Carroll made false allegations against him, going after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) even though he is no longer in the race and endorsed him, and saying that he will “stop the invasion” when it comes to the border, calling migrants “horrible people.”

On Saturday, he revisited another old claim. “I did more for Black people than any president other than Abraham Lincoln. It’s true. It’s true,” Trump said. “I did more than any president other than Abraham Lincoln. Think of it: criminal justice reform. I took care of the Black colleges and universities.”

He also made similar claims in 2020, which historians disputed — with several citing Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as The Washington Post reported at the time. And while it’s true Trump signed bipartisan legislation into law that made permanent $255 million in annual STEM funding for minority-serving colleges, with around $85 million for HBCUs, this was not Trump’s own doing, as Inside Higher Ed pointed out at the time. Moreover, his administration’s record with HBCUs were mixed.

“It should be 100 percent of the Black people should vote for Trump,” he said on Saturday.

When he spoke at a Black Conservative Federation Honors Gala last month, Trump claimed that “the Black people like me” because of his four criminal indictments, adding: “I’m being indicted for you, the Black population.”

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