Elections

Trump To Black Voters: ‘What The Hell Do You Have To Lose?’

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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Republican nominee Donald Trump reached out to black voters in a Michigan speech Friday asking for the support of every black voter “who wants a better future.”

This is part of what seems to be a new stump speech for the GOP nominee, and yet another one that Trump has delivered using a teleprompter. Earlier in the week in Milwaukee, Trump said, “I am asking for the vote of every African-American citizen struggling in our country today who wants a different future.”

He added, “The Democratic Party has failed and betrayed the African-American community.”

Trump spoke similarly in Michigan, he said, “Look at how much African-American communities have suffered under Democratic Control. To those hurting, I say: what do you have to lose by trying something new?”

The Republican nominee did ad-lib a bit during his speech and said that he will get 95 percent of the black vote after his first term in the White House. Currently, most polls show Trump polling around the lower single-digit with black voters. There have been outliers and his anti-immigration message could resonate with black voters as they are one the communities most hurt by illegal immigration.

Trump in his speech hit on the anti-immigration tone with black voters. He said, “Hillary Clinton would rather provide a job to a refugee from overseas than to give that job to unemployed African-American youth in cities like Detroit who have become refugees in their own country.”

“The African-American community has given so much to this country. They’ve fought and died in every war since the Revolution. They’ve lifted up the conscience of our nation in the long march for Civil Rights,” Trump said. “They’ve sacrificed so much for the national good. Yet, nearly 4 in 10 African-American children still live in poverty, and 58 percent of young African-Americans are not working.”

The Republican nominee said Hillary Clinton preys on “our poorest citizens while selling them out for personal gain.” In contrast, Trump offered a “New American Future” where “American workers will always come first.”