“Black People Love Trump,” As He Railed Against Somali Immigrants and Touted the U.S. Economy
President Donald Trump used the first stop of his so-called “affordability tour” to do anything but address affordability, veering off-script into attacks on Somali immigrants and off-the-cuff remarks about Black Americans “knowing a scam better than anybody.”
What was billed as an economic listening tour for Americans struggling with higher prices and stagnant wages quickly morphed into a familiar campaign-style performance in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania.
The president told the crowd at Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono that inflation was no longer a problem and insisted Democrats had invented “affordability” as a political hoax.
Even as he stood on a stage surrounded by signs promising “Lower Prices Bigger Paychecks,” he mocked the very concept of affordability and offered up the same lines he uses at campaign rallies.
At the rally, he accused Democrats of turning Pennsylvania into a “dumping ground for hundreds of thousands of migrants from the most dysfunctional places on earth, like Somalia,” adding that taxpayer dollars given to immigrants “were stolen” and that “those people should go to jail.” He then blamed Omar directly, labeling her “crooked” and brushing off accusations of discrimination.
Trump abruptly shifted to discussing his 2024 performance with Black voters, which increased from 8% to 15% according to Pew Research. “I got the biggest vote with Black people,” he said. “They know a scam better than anybody.”
While 15% is the highest percentage among Black voters for a Republican in decades, an overwhelming majority still backed Kamala Harris, and Trump’s numbers remain nowhere near the GOP support Black Americans gave before the New Deal era.
He also declared the country has had “the best 10 months ever in the history of the presidency” and claimed that so-called “reverse migration” was leading to better wages for American citizens. None of that squares with current economic indicators: since Trump’s second term began, Black unemployment has climbed to 7.5%, almost double the national rate, and the highest figure seen since the pandemic.
Studies show global tariffs, cuts to DEI efforts, and reductions across the federal workforce and public education are hitting Black workers and Black-owned businesses the hardest.
Omar responded swiftly on X, writing, “Trump’s obsession with me is beyond weird. He needs serious help. Since he has no economic policies to tout, he’s resorting to regurgitating bigoted lies instead.”
Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright was even more blunt, saying Trump’s “MAGAnomics continue to be a failure,” and describing the administration as sinking deeper into “lame duck” territory as fractures inside the MAGA movement widen.
