While churchgoers on Saturday agreed that Trump’s scripted church appearance was unlikely to change the minds of most black voters, they did praise the candidate for presenting a more “humble” persona.
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Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Sheffield says she doesn’t believe Trump is honest in his attempts to woo African-American voters. Carson, a Detroit native, and Trump also went on a tour of the city (although later reports indicated the pair only stopped at Carson’s childhood home).
“With each passing Trump attack, it becomes clearer that his strategy is just to say about Hillary Clinton what’s true of himself”, Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said. “I am here to learn”.
After Trump delivered his message of unity in what appears to be a first visit to the black church in Detroit, he left them with a quote from the Bible: 1 John 4:12. Because liberals feel threatened by Trump’s engagement with blacks, the New York Times tried to trash his campaign for receiving the questions in advance and preparing answers. The shawl, also known as the tallit, was given to Trump by Bishop Wayne Jackson. “This is the first African-American church he’s been in, y’all!”
While in the city, Trump separately met with approximately 100 community and church leaders, his campaign said, according to Reuters.
The congregation at Great Faith Ministries in Detroit, Michigan gave Trump a warm welcome during his visit.
Though a program provided by Jackson budgeted just one minute for Trump to speak, the pastor said Trump requested additional time to offer his thoughts, and he went on for more than 10 minutes. “We must love each other and support each other, and we are all in this together”.
He said during the Detroit visit he hoped to learn about ways to remedy economics so the African-American community can benefit economically through jobs and income.
“I believe that his approach has been very disingenuous, to reach out to the African-American community at the end of this election, and paint us with a very broad brush”, says Sheffield.
Trump’s efforts thus far to attract greater support from minority groups have largely fallen flat.
But of course, this attack on Trump and his message of unity to Detroit’s African-American community comes at a time when Hillary Clinton’s health and judgment has become an issue for voters after the Federal Bureau of Investigation report released on Friday.
She denounced Mr. Trump’s treatment of African-Americans during his years in real estate and his role in the birther movement that questioned the legitimacy of President Obama’s citizenship.
Emery Northington, 42, who works in auto sales, said that Trump “doesn’t have my best interest in hand”. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who didn’t participate in the march and protest, told reporters.
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“Becoming the nominee of the party of Abraham Lincoln – a lot of people don’t realize Abraham Lincoln, the great Abraham Lincoln, was a Republican – has been the greatest honor of my life”, Trump said. Speaking before a congregation at the Great Faith Ministries church in Detroit, he referenced “all those closed stores” he saw while riding through the neighborhood “and people sitting down on the sidewalk, and no jobs, and no activity”.
