Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump points to a supporter in the crowd at a rally in Sunrise, Fla., on Aug. 10. In West Bend, Wis., on Tuesday, Trump told black voters that Democrats take them for granted. Photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI |
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WEST BEND, Wis., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Speaking in Wisconsin on Tuesday night, Donald Trump made a pitch directly to black voters, who polls show overwhelmingly favor his opponent Hillary Clinton.
Trump said his policies would restore law and order to crime- and drug-ravaged inner cities, while Clinton and the Democrats have made no serious proposals to address those problems. He also defended law enforcement, saying "the problem in our poorest communities is not that there are too many police, the problem is that there are not enough police."
Trump's rally was in West Bend, Wis., about 40 miles north of Milwaukee, a city that has been rocked by clashes between black residents and police. Those tensions flared again over the weekend, when a police officer fatally shot a black man who did not comply with the officer's order to put down a handgun he was carrying.
Talking about the incident in an interview with Fox News, Trump sided with the officer, saying he had a right to defend himself.
"If he believed the gun was pointed at his head, maybe ready to be fired, what is a person supposed to do? Supposed to talk him out of it?"
Trump accused Clinton of taking the black community's votes for granted. Polls have shown her winning a clear majority, and in some cases a nearly unanimous level of support among black voters.
"I'm asking for the vote of every African-American citizen struggling in our country today who wants a different and much better future. It's time for our society to address some honest and very, very difficult choices," he said. "The Democratic Party has failed and betrayed the African-American community.
"To every voter in Milwaukee, to every voter living in the inner city or every forgotten stretch of society, I'm running to offer you a much better future. They've taken African-Americans for granted. They just assume they'll get their support. They've taken advantage of the African-American citizen. It's time to give the Democrats some competition for these votes."
