Republican Donald Trump again made a direct appeal to black voters on Friday night, urging them to abandon the Democratic Party and give him a chance.
Speaking at a rally in Dimondale, Michigan, an overwhelmingly white suburb outside of Lansing, the GOP nominee argued that Democrats, including his rival Hillary Clinton, have taken advantage of African-American voters and taken their votes for granted.
“Tonight, I’m asking for the vote of every single African-American citizen in this country who wants to see a better future,” Mr. Trump told the crowd.
“What do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump?” he asked them. “You’re living in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 per cent of your youth is unemployed what the hell do you have to lose?” Most polls show Mr. Trump trailing Ms. Clinton significantly among black voters.
On Twitter, the Clinton campaign responded, “This is so ignorant it’s staggering.”
The Clinton campaign’s Marlon Marshall added in a statement: “Donald Trump asks what the African-American community has to lose by voting for him. The answer is everything from a man who questions the citizenship of the first African-American President, courts white supremacists, and has been sued for housing discrimination against communities of colour.”
Trump advisor on Putin Meanwhile, a Washington Post report said that Carter Page, a foreign policy advisor of Mr. Trump, had praised Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with U.S. experts and think tanks here in June.
“The adviser, Carter Page, hailed Putin as stronger and more reliable than President [Barack] Obama… and then touted the positive effect a Trump presidency would have on U.S.-Russia relations,” it said.
