Posted on 07/31/2016 1:32:10 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Donald Trump is unpopular with black voters, but Omarosa Manigault is trying to change that. NPR's Elise Hu speaks with Manigault, Trump's director of African-American outreach.
Transcript
ELISE HU, HOST:
Donald Trump's presidential campaign is attempting to appeal to communities of color. But it's going to be a tough road. A recent Washington Post poll shows 94 percent of black voters disapprove of Trump. That's something Omarosa Manigault is trying to change. She worked in the Bill Clinton White House but made her name on Donald Trump's reality show "The Apprentice." Now she's director of African-American outreach for Donald Trump. We reached her via Skype, and I started by asking her about the Trump campaign strategy for reaching black voters.
OMAROSA MANIGAULT: Well, it is a 76-page strategy, so I - in my three minutes that I have with you, I'll just say that it is important for Mr. Trump to make sure that all folks are included in his vision for this country and included, I mean, improving the conditions in the inner cities, particularly where I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, where the average income is about $13,000, where unemployment is at an all-time high, particularly for young men under 30 - black men under 30 - creating jobs and creating the opportunities for people to get training for those jobs and then making sure that those jobs are not shipped overseas. And so Donald is very concerned about the economic conditions, particularly of African-Americans in this country.
HU: On this topic of inclusiveness, on a lot of fronts, Donald Trump has staked out what sounds to many as a xenophobic or anti-immigrant position. He's even won over the support of some white nationalists. So how will you convince people of color to swing his way?
MANIGAULT: Let's be clear - Donald Trump says things that, you know, challenge people's thoughts on race and race relations in this country. And they are, at times, racial. But the charges that he - or any of those things are not substantiated. The truth of the matter is that Donald Trump has been in the public eye for years and years and years. And we didn't hear these accusations until he decided to run to become president of the United States, and then you hear his opponents saying these things.
HU: What kind of advice are you giving Donald Trump about inclusiveness?
MANIGAULT: Well, a lot of what I do with Mr. Trump is really guide him in terms of what's happening in the communities. He had no idea, until he started running, how many young black men and women were dying in the streets of Chicago. And so those are issues that I not only advise him on - that these are things that have to stop, that we have to find ways to make sure that the value of black lives in inner cities around this country is elevated. And so yeah, those are things that I talk with him about and that are important to his campaign.
HU: What Trump policies would solve those problems?
MANIGAULT: Job creation is going to be key. If you start to create opportunities for people, you'll see the number of people who are on welfare, the number of people who just feel like they have no hope - that number goes down. And his policies that really focus on businesses will help create jobs that will give us the opportunity to be self-reliant and to make a difference.
HU: Omarosa, let me ask a little bit about you. You were a Democrat until joining the Trump campaign, I understand, and have supported Barack Obama in the past. So what explains your shift, personally?
MANIGAULT: Well, I think it's a great question. And, in fact, a big portion of what I'm doing as African-American outreach director is appealing to Democrats. I was - I worked for the Clintons. Unfortunately, it was during the impeachment time. And then I made the very tough decision, when both Senator Clinton and Senator Barack Obama were running, to support Barack Obama. And many in the Clinton camp weren't very pleased with me, even back then. But when Donald Trump entered this race, I knew that a lot of his policies aligned with what would improve my community.
HU: What will you be doing between now and Election Day?
MANIGAULT: As a Baptist minister, I still believe in the power of the pulpit and going into black churches, going into barbershops and beauty shops, going into homes and having very intimate town halls. So I'm very excited, but I only have 100 days to get this done.
(LAUGHTER)
MANIGAULT: And I'm up for the challenge (laughter).
HU: Omarosa Manigault is directing African-American outreach for the Donald Trump campaign. Omarosa, thanks.
MANIGAULT: Thank you.
As long as it’s true outreach and not pandering or promising freebies.
Good. If we go to the communities and speak the truth about globalism and illegal immigration it will have an impact.
It doesn’t have to be huge it just has to be
Likely the best Trump can hope for is that black people don’t show up for some old white lady.
Oh, I think you’re going to be surprised.
Great résumé, she worked in the Clinton White House and was on the Apprentice.
They want to keep blacks on the democrat plantation.
Waste of time every four years, best we can hope for is they stay home
Trump should not even go there - no need to. We are all Americans.
Two of my favorite FReepers are black. I have been treated by several black physicians and worked for 2 great black ophthalmologists.
Professional, working and middle-class black & white citizens have great relationships and shared values.
Yes there are the inner-city, fatherless youths who need to be controlled, counseled and turned around - much like my recent neighbors who were young, white druggies suspected (by the cops) of burglarizing my house, in a ‘white’ neighborhood which is deteriorating daily.
Every ethnic population has good guys and bad guys. Trump should just say that he wants all the good guys to help him fix the bad ones.
“Oh, I think you’re going to be surprised.”
Please clarify. Blacks staying home? The opposite? Coming out for Trump?
A bigger percentage voting for Trump than what the presstitutes would have you believe. Many blacks are aspirational and Don Trump is a glitzy, show-boating billionaire tycoon. Watch and see.
If he can convince blacks that his vision is good for all of us which would include them...why wouldn’t you...but if he starts embracing any of this anti-white crap that has been prevalent the last 40+ years that is another story all together. Either race doesn’t exist and is a non issue for all of us or it isn’t and if it isn’t then whites have just as much right to have our own specific representation.
What’s it going to be?
We’re missing one thing in our favor: Trump TALKS like a black man. He does his own thing and doesn’t care what anyone thinks.
Compared to the typical Republican candidate, Trump will do very well with black voters. He speaks to their concerns about jobs.
Trump is offering jobs.
Hilary is offering more free crap.
He’s got an uphill battle.
“Waste of time every four years, best we can hope for is they stay home”
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I strongly disagree.
For one thing, “it’s” never really been tried before; not really. Republicans can’t help but get in their own way, and all they do is try to out-pander the Dems anyway.
And it’s high time blacks are given a real opportunity to prosper and live a peaceable and dignified life. Family, Church, true education, and real job opportunities.
If Trump can cut 15% or so into the black vote consider that a small yuuuuuge.
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