The criminal justice forum at Benedict College, a historically black college in South Carolina, was supposed to be a chance for 10 Democratic candidates to outline their appeal to African American voters. That all changed a week before the event, with the announcement that President Trump would appear first.
And so it was that the Trump 2020 campaign playlist regaled the audience in the college’s performing arts center with Michael Jackson’s Beat It, followed by Lionel Richie’s Hello, and then, most incongruously of all for a criminal justice gathering, Macho Man by the Village People.
The spirit of a political rally infected the audience, which interrupted the president at times with chants of “four more years.” The biggest cheers came during some of his most partisan lines, such as when he talked up the bipartisan First Step Act, designed to reduce recidivism and signed into law last year, by pointing out that it undid some of the work of his Democratic predecessors.
“We rolled back the unjust provisions of the 1994 Clinton crime law, which disproportionately harmed the African American community. You know that,” he said to whoops followed by thunderous applause.
That the bill was written in large part by then-Sen. Joe Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic nomination, was not lost on the audience.
It was the third time in little more than a month that Trump had spoken before a mostly black audience as he tries to improve his disastrous standing among African American voters. In 2016, he won just 8% of the black vote, and his status remains far worse among African Americans than the general population. A recent Politico/Morning Consult poll found that some 81% of African Americans disapprove of his performance in office.
Four years ago, candidate Trump asked African Americans what they had to lose by voting Republican after years of getting taken for granted by Democratic presidents. This time around, Trump is presenting a different argument: Look at what you have to lose if a Democrat wins in 2020.
“They’ve taken African American communities for granted. And I promise you that Republicans will never, ever do that,” he said.
The First Step Act eliminated life sentencing under the “three strikes” rule and increased judges’ discretion in imposing punishments for non-violent crimes. White House officials say 90% of those benefiting from its retroactive measures are African American. It is typical of what they say is the GOP’s universalist approach, in contrast to the Democrats’ strategy of offering up specific policies for different groups.
“On criminal justice reform, trade, the economy, and so much else, our America First agenda is focused on expanding opportunity for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed,” said Trump.
The White House says Americans from all backgrounds are benefiting from an economy that has created more than 6.4 million jobs under Trump.
Doug Deason, a criminal justice reform advocate and one of the president’s top donors in Texas, where Republicans face an uncertain future amid changing demographics, said it was a more successful approach than that pursued by Democrats for decades.
“What have they done to fix it? Throw more money at it,” he said. “Our goal is to create programs and support programs that empower the poor to help them lift themselves out of poverty.”
The challenge for Trump, as ever, is to persuade voters to follow his actions — not necessarily his words. He offered a reminder of the pitfalls on stage at Benedict College. Days after he provoked an angry backlash by using the racially charged term “lynching” to describe the impeachment inquiry into his dealings with Ukraine, he stood before the predominantly black audience to say the episode increased his awareness of problems in the criminal justice system.
“You know, I have my own experience, you know that,” he said. “You see what’s going on with the witch hunt. It’s a terrible thing that’s going on in our country — no crimes — it’s an investigation in search of a crime.”
The remark brought some cheers from the partisan crowd but dominated headlines and raised eyebrows among others skeptical that a billionaire with a fleet of high-powered lawyers could really understand their problems.
As one audience member, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely, put it: “He had me right up until that moment.”
