Donald Trump Can “Relate” to Black People Because He’s a Victim Too

“Well, I have been saying even against me the system is rigged.”


Donald Trump may have described the Black Lives Matter movement as “divisive” and suggested demonstrators might deserve to “get roughed up,” but he wants African Americans to know that he can relate to their struggle. After all, the system has been unfair to him too.

“Well, I have been saying even against me, the system is rigged—we have to fight,” Trump said when asked by Bill O’Reilly on Tuesday about what he would do to heal the country amid heightened racial tensions. “We have to fight.”

“No, what I’m saying is that they’re not necessarily wrong,” Trump responded when O’Reilly commented that his remarks about fighting weren’t uplifting. “I can really relate it really very much to myself.

The real estate magnate has been railing against the Republican nominating process ever since it briefly appeared as if Sen. Ted Cruz could secure more delegate support despite Trump winning more of the popular vote. Of course, that never transpired and Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

Trump’s mind-boggling analogy and clumsy attempt to pander to African Americans comes amid his disastrous polling numbers from minority groups and young people who believe he is a racist.

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

payment methods

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate