On the Aug. 19 edition of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” political commentator Angela Rye and Trump spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany spar over Donald Trump’s latest attempt to woo Black voters in Dimondale, Michigan.
Last Friday, the Republican presidential nominee told supporters that African-Americans have nothing to lose by voting for him in November.
“What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose? I’ll say it again: What do you have to lose? You’re living in poverty,” Trump stated. “Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?”
In the segment, McEnany adds to Trump’s vow to get Black Americans out of poverty by insinuating that the Black panelists do not care about poverty in Black communities.
“You might think a 27.2% poverty rate among African-American individuals … is a good thing but it [isn’t],” she tells Rye and former South Carolina Sate Rep. Bakari Sellers.
Her statement sparked an uproar among the panel, resulting in inaudible yelling and interruptions.
Subsequently, Rye insisted that she retract her claim immediately. But McEnany refused.
Instead, she reinforced her belief in Trump, proclaiming that the real estate tycoon has always been “on the cutting edge of civil rights,” because he allowed Black and Jewish people into his Florida club.
However, Rye quickly reminded the surrogate about Trump’s history with Black people.
“He can apologize for the howling discrimination for the Department of Justice, and he can retract that and apologize for that. And he can tell me he never meant to say he’d pay for the legal fees of the guy that punched the Black man in the face at the rally,” Rye says. “And he can apologize for the Indian man thrown out today. He can apologize for the full-page ad.
“I am just getting started,” she continues. “I haven’t even got to last July. Donald Trump doesn’t just have a messaging problem and he has a message and belief problem and he has to hear it from more than rhinestones and polyester and his two — that go out on the trail today.”
