Donald Trump's borderline racist comments to a crowd at the Black Conservative Federation's Annual BCF Honors Gala in South Carolina may have been given a pass by the conservatives in attendance, but they won't play nationally according to an MSNBC analyst.
During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Weekend," analyst Garrett Haake agreed with the hosts that Trump received tepid applause to some of his more outlandish remarks and said the former president may have turned off Black voters even more as he tries to peel them away from President Joe Biden.
After watching a clip of Trump telling the crowd, "These lights are so bright in my eyes I can't see too many people out there... I can only see the Black ones. I can't see any white ones. That's how far I've come. That's a long way isn't it?" Haake stated remarks like that are problematic.
"Garrett, the comments the president made to that room, what was the reaction inside the room? Because from what I could hear from the clip, it wasn't this overwhelming," co-host Michael Steele prompted. "It was like 'Oh, okay. is that what we're doing now?' The idea that he could stand in front of a Black audience and make comments like I can't see anybody, you know, because the white lights are too bright, but I could see the black people — I don't know how that translates to that room. What was the feedback? What did you hear from that?"
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"Michael, here's the thing: in that room, I mean, this is sort of a self-selected audience ... this is a room full of Trump supporters, right?" the MSNBC correspondent pointed out. "So I think this is a different audience than the broader audience that he's trying to reach where's there's a little bit of an 'Oh, shrug it off, that's how Trump talks in the room."'
"When these clips are played around the country to that broader African-American audience whom he is desperately trying to make some inroads with, I think that's when you have the real problem here," he added.
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MSNBC 02 24 2024 08 06 18youtu.be
