The Democratic National Committee has thrown down the race card in its effort to belittle Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and spark interest among black voters for Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Party Chairwoman Donna Brazile Friday sent a new fundraising email to Democrats accusing Trump of portraying blacks “lazy” in his bid this week to win African American voters.
Democratic Party chief Donna Brazile said Donald Trump talks down to blacks. AP Photo
“If I ever had the distinct dishonor of playing a role in Trump’s campaign, I would give him some advice I haven’t needed to give before: stop talking down to African Americans in this country,” she wrote.
Getting the black vote high for Clinton has been a priority for the party, but the enthusiasm has waned and isn’t expected to be as high as it was for President Obama. Obama himself said he would take it as an insult if blacks didn’t vote in huge numbers for Clinton.
Below is the new DNC email:
I’ve worked for a lot of great leaders on some amazing campaigns in my life — as a staffer to President Jimmy Carter and advisor to Michael Dukakis, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and Al Gore. So let me tell you this: if I ever had the distinct dishonor of playing a role in Trump’s campaign, I would give him some advice I haven’t needed to give before: stop talking down to African Americans in this country.
Unfortunately, no one has doled out such sage advice to him (though if they have, I’m sure he wouldn’t listen anyway). So here’s Donald’s message to the Black community: we’re lazy, unemployed, and uneducated. On Wednesday, he even went on FOX News to hold a town hall on “the core issues surrounding African Americans” and repeated the same offensive message. I kid you not.
This has become part of the core campaign message of a man who got his start in business by discriminating against people of color who tried to rent from him. A man who led the racist conspiracy theory about Barack Obama’s birthplace — and who has yet to offer any apology for spending the past five years trying to delegitimize the first African American President of the United States.
On Monday night, Donald Trump will be handed one of the biggest megaphones in our political system at the first presidential debate. We don’t yet know which of the bigoted statements and lies that have been the hallmark of his campaign he’ll choose to repeat. But no matter what he says, we can’t let it go unchallenged.
So before he takes that stage, pitch in $10 or more to help us get ready to fight back on Monday night — and then silence Trump’s nonsense this November.
Donna
Donna Brazile
Chair
Democratic National Committee
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
