This morning, Trump tweeted:
Dwayne Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!
The comparison is already being made to Trump's "appreciate the congrats" tweet after the Orlando shooting, which seemed to hurt him among many voters for the way he seemed callous in response to tragedy.
This joins Trump's week and change of reaching out to the black community in ways that have caused as much trouble for him as they've helped. Media outlets noted that his outreach to blacks happened in white neighborhoods and to white crowds. His "What do you have to lose?" comment seemed to many to be essentially negging the black community, and some raised objections at the dismal view of black America he claimed.
The whole attempt of Trump to look better on the issue of race has also opened up a Clinton attack on him—Clinton made her speech linking him to the alt-right, and released ads showing KKK members and other white nationalists endorsing his candidacy.
Trump has a real problem with African American voters. To quote Larry Sabato:
Trump polls 1-2% among blacks. In '64 Goldwater got 6% after voting no on the Civil Rights Act. In '68 segregationist George Wallace won 3%.
1) Is there still an upside to Trump trying to fix his campaign's image on race? Have his attempts made things worse?
2) How could Trump more effectively make outreach towards the black community?
EDIT: Yes, I get it. Trump is not trying to get AA to vote for him as much as get white moderates to not think he's racist. I tried to express that in the original post but I guess I wasn't clear enough.
The question I'm asking is whether or not this works. Is Trump's attempt at proving he's not a racist having its intended effect? Should he keep trying?
This morning, Trump tweeted:
Dwayne Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!
The comparison is already being made to Trump's "appreciate the congrats" tweet after the Orlando shooting, which seemed to hurt him among many voters for the way he seemed callous in response to tragedy.
This joins Trump's week and change of reaching out to the black community in ways that have caused as much trouble for him as they've helped. Media outlets noted that his outreach to blacks happened in white neighborhoods and to white crowds. His "What do you have to lose?" comment seemed to many to be essentially negging the black community, and some raised objections at the dismal view of black America he claimed.
The whole attempt of Trump to look better on the issue of race has also opened up a Clinton attack on him—Clinton made her speech linking him to the alt-right, and released ads showing KKK members and other white nationalists endorsing his candidacy.
Trump has a real problem with African American voters. To quote Larry Sabato:
Trump polls 1-2% among blacks. In '64 Goldwater got 6% after voting no on the Civil Rights Act. In '68 segregationist George Wallace won 3%.
1) Is there still an upside to Trump trying to fix his campaign's image on race? Have his attempts made things worse?
2) How could Trump more effectively make outreach towards the black community?
EDIT: Yes, I get it. Trump is not trying to get AA to vote for him as much as get white moderates to not think he's racist. I tried to express that in the original post but I guess I wasn't clear enough.
The question I'm asking is whether or not this works. Is Trump's attempt at proving he's not a racist having its intended effect? Should he keep trying?