“I believe we need a civil rights agenda for our time”, he said.
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The Detroit Free Press reports that Trump mostly stuck to a prepared script as he spoke at the Great Faith Ministries Church in the Motor City.
“I heard a man speaking from his soul”, Griffin said. “A lot of stuff is put out there for shock value, lot of stuff is put out there to get African-Americans’ attention”, Sawyer said.
“He’s already told us what he thinks of us”, Jackson said.
Ronald Moore, 62, was in the pews, too. Surrounded by a coterie of African-American surrogates – including former primary rival Ben Carson, spokeswoman Katrina Pierson and reality television star Omarosa Manigault – Trump swayed to the beat of gospel songs Saturday morning before he addressed the congregation directly. “Please. He’s never said anything like that before”, said Moore.
“I believe that Trump coming to Detroit is a joke, and I’m ashamed of the pastor who invited him”, she said.
He was part of a group of interfaith clergy – including an imam from Dearborn Heights, Mich. – who gathered outside the church to register their objections to Trump’s “rhetoric and fear-mongering”, said Glass. “How dare you talk to us like that and talk about us like that?” she said.
The buildup to the visit was fraught with chaos and controversy with conflicting versions from the campaign and church on whether the media would be allowed into the service, if Trump would actually speak to the congregation and whether he got the questions for Jackson’s interview in advance in order to prepare remarks. “He has shown us who he really is and who he really cares about – and that’s not us”. The African-American faith community has been one of God’s greatest gifts to America.
And he promised to support the church and defend the right to worship.
“If you are running for president you just can’t complain”, he said. “I’m here today to learn so that we can together remedy injustice in any form and so that we can also remedy economics so that the African- American community can benefit economically through jobs and income and so many other different ways”.
“We’re going to turn it around”.
He also denounced what he said was a divided nation. This is the same man who has talked down to us and falsely claimed that our entire community is poor, uneducated and unemployed. “They don’t know. They have no clue”.
“I wanted to hear what he had to say; he’s entitled to that”, she said. I will be voting for Hillary, but she’s not going to do a miracle for us.
Trump’s past campaign controversies with all-white crowds did not overshadow his appearance in Detroit, said Wayne Bradley, the state director of African-American engagement for the Michigan Republican Party.
At one point, several tried to rush toward a gate near the church’s entryway. But it dissipated and protesters were content with marching in the streets, some pointing to the manure left in the street by the horses as “Trump s#*&”. There were protesters outside – hundreds of them – and all throughout the neighborhood.
“Go home Trump” and “hit the freeway”, chanted protestors as Trump’s motorcade drove off.
Democrats regularly remind voters that Mr Trump’s backers include former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke – although the candidate has publicly rejected the extreme-right endorsement.
Invoking Abraham Lincoln in his speech, Trump outlined the case for his presidential campaign and stated his general belief in a “civil rights agenda” centered on education, safety and job growth.
The classic Detroit bungalow has been owned by Felicia Reese since 1992.
As a woman with a hijab, she wishes Trump would visit a mosque and see what Muslims really stand for.
“Your house is worth a lot of money”, he told her, thanks to the Carson connection.
Booker Sawyer III, a real estate agent, said he was pleased with what he saw.
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The day before the interview, the reverend explained one of his reasons for giving Trump an open forum to speak on issues that are important to black Americans.
