What was supposed to be a huge press conference to announce that a group of 100 Black pastors and religious leaders were officially endorsing Donald Trump’s bid for president quickly turned into a closed door meeting later described as an “informational meet and greet” by Trump’s campaign organizers.
But did Trump ever really have the group’s support? It depends on who you ask.
Trump seems to believe he initially had the group’s support until some calls were made to dissuade that from happening.
“Probably some of the Black Lives Matter folks called them up and said, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t be meeting with Trump because he believes all lives matter,’ ” he said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Unfortunately for Trump, many of the leaders and pastors in question are adamant that their willingness to meet with the GOP front-runner did not signal an endorsement.
“The meeting was presented not as a meeting to endorse, but as a meeting to engage in dialogue,” said Los Angeles pastor and star of Oxygen’s “Preachers of L.A.,” Clarence McClendon.
Others, like Corletta Vaughn, senior pastor of Detroit’s Holy Ghost Cathedral, were not so diplomatic.
“Trump is an insult and embarrassment. But he represents the country we have become,” Vaughn wrote in a Facebook post. “ZERO experience … Flaunting a ticket of unbridled bigotry, sexism, racism and everything that is wrong with America.”
Despite sending out a press release that clearly stated the coalition would endorse Trump, spokeswoman Katrina Pierson attempted to save face during a CNN interview by calling the whole debacle a simple mixup.
“It’s a coalition meeting. Some of these pastors were not going to be endorsing to begin with,” Pierson said. “Now if the campaign had said that some of them won’t be endorsing, it just was — it was way too confusing.”
Amazingly, and an obvious sign of his arrogance and delusion, Trump still believes he can capture the Black vote as he told a group at a recent campaign rally in Florida.
“I think I’m going to win the African American vote,” he proclaimed. “I think I’m going to do great with the African American vote.”
Clearly, Mr. Trump is in dire need of a reality check.
