Sunday, November 27, 2016

Trump's Appeal to African American Voters

Scott has repeatedly highlighted this speech as pivotal in his turn from, in essence, a voter motivated primarily by disgust with Hillary Clinton to one motivated by a positive view of Donald Trump.  This speech, given on October 26, 2016, in Charlotte, NC, articulates Trump's assessment of the conditions of "inner City" African Americans and his policy proposals for improving those conditions.  Here's the address on video, coupled with a transcript:


 Transcript from Donald J. Trump Campaign site:

"I want to talk about how to grow the African-American middle class, and to provide a new deal for Black America. That deal is grounded in three promises: safe communities, great education, and high-paying jobs. My vision rests on a principle that has defined this campaign: America First. Every African-American citizen in this country is entitled to a government that puts their jobs, wages and security first. ...

 Our opponent represents the rigged system and failed thinking of yesterday. ... Hillary has been there for 30 years and hasn’t fixed anything – she’s just made it worse. American politics is caught in a time loop – we keep electing the same people, who keep making the same mistakes, and who keep offering the same excuses. ... African-American citizens have sacrificed so much for this nation. They have fought and died in every war since the Revolution, and from the pews and the picket lines they have lifted up the conscience of our country in the long march for Civil Rights. Yet, too many African-Americans have been left behind. ...

 The conditions in our inner cities today are unacceptable. The Democrats have run our inner cities for fifty, sixty, seventy years or more. They’ve run the school boards, the city councils, the mayor’s offices, and the congressional seats. Their policies have failed, and they’ve failed miserably. They’ve trapped children in failing government schools, and opposed school choice at every turn. The Clintons gave us NAFTA and China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, two deals that de-industrialized America, uprooted our industry, and stripped bare towns like Detroit and Baltimore and the inner cities of North Carolina. ... Democratic policies have also given rise to crippling crime and violence. Then there is the issue of taxation and regulation. Massive taxes, massive regulation of small business, and radical restrictions on American energy, have driven jobs and opportunities out of our inner cities. Hillary wants to raise taxes on successful small businesses as high as 45 percent – which will only drive more jobs out of your community, and into other countries. ... . No group has been more economically-harmed by decades of illegal immigration than low-income African-American workers. Hillary’s pledge to enact “open borders,” – made in secret to a foreign bank – would destroy the African-American middle class. At the center of my revitalization plan is the issue of trade. ... We won’t let your jobs be stolen from you anymore. When we stop the offshoring to low-wage countries, we raise wages at home – meaning rent and bills become instantly more affordable. At the same time, my plan to lower the business tax from 35 percent to 15 percent will bring thousands of new companies onto our shores. It also includes a massive middle class tax cut, tax-free childcare savings accounts, and childcare tax deductions and credits. I will also propose tax holidays for inner-city investment, and new tax incentives to get foreign companies to relocate in blighted American neighborhoods. ... We will also encourage small-business creation by allowing social welfare workers to convert poverty assistance into repayable but forgive-able micro-loans. ...

 I will invest in training and funding both local and federal law enforcement operations to remove the gang members, drug dealers, and criminal cartels from our neighborhoods. The reduction of crime is not merely a goal – but a necessity. We will get it done. The war on police urged on by my rival is reckless, and dangerous, and puts African-American lives at risk. We must work with our police, not against them. On immigration, my policy is simple. I will restore the civil rights of African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and all Americans, by ending illegal immigration. I will reform visa rules to give American workers preference for jobs, and I will suspend reckless refugee admissions from terror-prone regions that cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. ...

 School choice is at the center of my plan. My proposal redirects education spending to allow every disadvantaged child in America to attend the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. ...

The cycle of poverty can be broken, and great new things can happen for our people. But to achieve this future, we must reject the failed elites in Washington who’ve been wrong about virtually everything for decades. ...

Now is the time to embrace a New Direction.

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