This weekend, Donald Trump attempted to appeal to Black voters by mentioning the multiple charges he is facing. It is a poor strategy, obviously, and also opens the former President to a fair amount of criticism.
Former RNC Chair Reince Preibus appeared on ABC's This Week on Sunday and attempted to defend Trump's comments. Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, though, was not having it.
Priebus said of Trump's comments, "I don’t know. Look, I remember, back in 2016, when President Trump went in to say, ‘Hey, what the hell do you have to lose?’” Priebus said. “And today, if you look at the polling, he’s looking at recent polling about 22 percent in the Black community, in the seven battleground states."
Brazile shot back:
"Well I mean Reince, this is not a conversation about whether or not — who has a record? Okay. Because we know Donald Trump’s record. This is about the future. And what Donald Trump said was racist tropes. And it’s insulting and demeaning to basically go to Black people and say, ‘Oh, don’t you like the fact that I have 91 convictions? Don’t you want to see this mug shot?’ Hell no. Look, we want freedom and justice and equality just like anyone else."
A chastened Priebus responded, "For the record, I don’t disagree. These things that are said are not helpful. They’re distractions. I think that part of it is who’s trying to be entertaining. I don’t disagree. However, what I also see are the facts. And the facts are that 22% of Black voters in America like what he’s saying, like what he stands for and likes him as a candidate. So that’s something you’re going your side’s going to have to deal with."