COLUMBIA, S.C. ― Donald Trump mentioned on the eve of South Carolina’s GOP presidential major that his prison indictments ― he faces 91 fees throughout a number of circumstances ― are boosting his attraction with Black voters.
Addressing the Black Conservative Federation’s Honors Gala on Friday night, the previous president dismissed the federal and state fees he faces over his efforts to overturn an election he misplaced and his dealing with of categorised data, dismissing them but once more as politically motivated.
“I acquired indicted for nothing — for one thing that’s nothing,” Trump said to applause.
“And lots of people mentioned that that’s why the Black folks like me, as a result of they’ve been harm so badly and discriminated towards. They usually really seen me as I’m being discriminated towards. It’s been fairly wonderful. Probably — possibly there’s one thing there,” he added.
Trump ― who has an extended historical past of racism, pushed a racist conspiracy principle towards the nation’s first Black president, and sought to throw out tens of millions of votes in predominantly Black areas amid the 2020 presidential election ― went on to reward the efforts of civil rights chief Martin Luther King Jr.
“We share the dream of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He was nice,” Trump advised the viewers of Black conservatives in Columbia.
“Each time the radical-left Democrats, Marxists, communists and fascists indict me, I take into account it an awesome, nice badge of honor. As a result of I’m being indicted for you, the American folks. I’m being indicted for you, the Black inhabitants. I’m being indicted for lots of various teams by sick folks.”
Earlier within the day, Trump held a raucous rally in close by Rock Hill that was attended by hundreds of predominantly white supporters. The 2024 presidential candidate’s pitch at that occasion was comparable, although he invoked a unique historic determine when talking about his many prison indictments.
“I’ve been indicted greater than Alphonse Capone,” Trump boasted on the rally, referring to the infamous Chicago gangster of the Prohibition period. “If I fly over a blue state, the subsequent day I get a federal grand jury.”
He added: “They indicted me on bullshit. It’s all bullshit.”
The Rock Hill occasion was attended by South Carolina’s governor in addition to a number of members of the state’s congressional delegation, together with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who’s the lone Black Republican within the Senate. Trump heaped reward on Scott, who dropped out of the 2024 GOP race final yr and endorsed him.
Scott, Trump mentioned, is “a greater consultant for me than he’s for himself,” prompting a standing ovation for the senator, who’s within the combine as a potential Trump vice presidential nominee.
Attendees of the occasion in Rock Hill mentioned that they weren’t bothered by the previous president’s prison indictments, echoing his remarks about being politically persecuted.
“I don’t see how the nation’s that silly that they’re going to let this proceed on when you could have a victimless crime. Come on. How silly is that?” mentioned Mike Kane, a 66-year-old retiree from the South Carolina metropolis. “The general public goes to ultimately ― come on, we’re not that silly. They spin every thing the other within the press.”
“Is he an ideal man? In fact not,” added Doug Smith, a 53-year-old postal employee from Rock Hill. “Has he completed one thing unsuitable? I don’t know. I’m not a authorized scholar. However I simply really feel like he cares concerning the common particular person.”
