Donald Trump is looking to improve his little support among African-American voters.
Recently, the GOP presidential nominee addressed a crowd of mostly white Americans and began to make his case as to why African-American voters should vote for him over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
In true Trump fashion, his message to those minority groups was perceived to be a bit racist.
“What the hell do you have to lose? Give me a chance. I’ll straighten it out. I’ll straighten it out. What do you have to lose?” he said to African-American voters, according to The Washington Post.
Days later, Trump reacted to the fatal shooting of NBA star Dwyane Wade’s cousin, Nykea Aldridge, which he made all about himself.
“Dwyane Wade’s cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!” Trump tweeted.
Dwyane Wade’s cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2016
Americans are still unclear as to how Trump, who has been firm in his stance to protect the Second Amendment and not put any stricter gun laws into place, would fix the gun issue facing the nation. Now, Trump’s new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, revealed that Trump is planning to hold rallies in front of predominantly African-American audiences to explain his ideas.
“Those events are actually being planned, and we’re very excited about them,” Conway stated on Fox News Sunday.
However, these rallies seem to be too little too late for two reasons. The first is that it appears as though a large majority of minority voters across the country have an incredibly negative opinion of Trump due to comments he made in the past that have been perceived as racist.
One African-American man who certainly feels this way is actor Don Cheadle, who recently tweeted Trump, calling him a “POS” and told him to “die in a grease fire.”
You are truly a POS https://t.co/cyTwxgxwDh — Don Cheadle (@DonCheadle) August 27, 2016
Sorry. I misspelled “die in a grease fire.” https://t.co/16K2iq1pF4
— Don Cheadle (@DonCheadle) August 27, 2016
The other issue Trump faces is his current extremely low poll numbers among minorities. According to a new poll by The Washington Post, only six percent of African-American voters say they will vote for Trump in November. Trying to substantially improve this number would be a difficult feat for any candidate, but for someone who is already perceived to be racist by minority voters, like Trump, this seems to be an impossible task.