"... it’s indicative of Trump’s inability to understand and connect with black communities ..." Any black American who still supports Trump after this is sadly misguided.

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Trump’s message to people of color offended by his birther campaign: ‘Nothing’
“I say nothing.”
By Natasha Geiling, September 27, 2016

Anyone hoping Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would take time during the first presidential debate to apologize for the damage caused by his years-long “birther” crusade was sorely disappointed Monday night, when instead of apologizing to either President Barack Obama or black communities, Trump told moderator Lester Holt “I say nothing.”

“We’re talking about racial healing in this segment,” Holt said, “What do you say to Americans and people of color…”

“I say nothing,” Trump interjected, “because I was able to get him to produce [his birth certificate]. He should have produced it a long time before. I say nothing.”

The exchange flew a little under the radar, topped by many of Trump’s other misdirections and outright lies, but it’s indicative of Trump’s inability to understand and connect with black communities, a group he has struggled to attract — a recent ABC News and Washington Post poll found that just three percent of black voters support Trump.

For years, Trump made perpetuating a racist claim that Obama was not born in the United States a cornerstone of his political identity, something that Clinton alluded to during the debate.

“He has really started his political activity based on this racist lie that our first black president was not an American citizen,” Clinton said. Clinton also connected the birther movement to Trump’s history of racist practices in his business ventures, noting he had been sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination in 1973 because he would not rent apartments to African Americans.

“So he has a long record of engaging in racist behavior,” Clinton said. “And the birther lie was a very hurtful one.”

Trump refused to acknowledge, however, that perpetuating the birther lie might have created pain for both Obama and black communities. During the debate, Trump told Holt that he decided to make an announcement a few weeks ago, noting he had changed his mind on the birther issue mostly because “nobody was caring much about it” and he knew the question would be raised during the debate.

But Trump’s assertion that “nobody was caring much about it” erases the fact that, for years, Trump was trying to undercut the validity of the first black U.S. president, a historic accomplishment for both the country and for black communities across America.

A recent Huffington Post/YouGov poll found that 72 percent of black voters feel Trump should apologize for his role in fueling the birther lie.

But Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, told the Huffington Post after the debate that he was not surprised Trump refused to apologize.

“He just dug himself deeper in there with the birther statement in regards to the first African American president of the United States,” Meeks said. “He just showed that he has no desire to do anything with the African American community other than insult them.”
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