LiLSpeedy's Blog

"Dwyane Wade's (sic) cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!" –Donald Trump, tweeting about the tragic death of Nykea Aldridge, cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade, and making it all about him (Aug. 27, 2016) 

"Why can’t we use nuclear weapons?" –Donald Trump, reportedly asking a foreign policy adviser three times during a meeting why the U.S. couldn’t use its nuclear weapons stockpile, according to MSNBC's Joe Scarborough

“Actually, I was only kidding. You can get that baby out of here. Don’t worry, I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I’m speaking. That’s O.K. People don’t understand. That’s O.K." –Donald Trump, booting a mother and her crying baby from a rally moments after saying "I love babies" (August 2, 2016)

"I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I've had tremendous success. I think I've done a lot." –Donald Trump, rejecting the assertion made at the Democratic convention by Muslim lawyer Khizr Khan, whose son died in Iraq in 2004, that Trump had "sacrificed nothing and no one." Trump was unable to name an actual sacrifice when pressed to elaborate. 

"I'd like to hear his wife say something." –Donald Trump, smearing Ghazala Khan, the mother of a fallen American soldier, by implying that she was not allowed to speak, despite the fact that she has spoken publicly about her son's death (ABC News interview, July 30, 2016)

"[Vladimir Putin} is not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He’s not gonna go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down." –Donald Trump, apparently unaware that Russia had already annexed Crimea in a 2014 intrusion into Ukraine that left thousands dead (July 31, 2016)

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press." –Donald Trump, calling on Russian espionage services to intervene in the U.S. election and help sabotage Hillary Clinton. The emails in question were deemed "personal," but Trump has previously said he thinks they contain sensitive intelligence, meaning that Trump is hoping Vladimir Putin gains access to classified government information (July 27, 2016)

The reality TV star, who claimed in 2011 he has “a great relationship with the blacks,” has polled miserably among black voters. He sought to remedy that at a rally in Dimondale, Michigan, saying he wants the vote of “every African-American citizen in this country who wants a better future.”

“Look how much African-American communities are suffering under Democratic control. To those I say the following: What do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump?” he said. “You’re living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. Fifty-eight percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?” 

He continued, “I will produce for the African-Americans. And the Democrats will not produce. All they’ve done is taken advantage of your vote. If you keep voting for the same people, you will keep getting exactly the same result.”

Trump made similar remarks during a speech in Charlotte on Thursday.

Trump’s claims, like comments he’s made about other racial groups, are broad and hardly representative of every black American. His claim about black youth unemployment is also misleading.

And according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted this month, black voters are actually more likely to be optimistic about the future than white or Hispanic voters. The poll also found that 51 percent of African-Americans think life has gotten better over the last 50 years, versus 33 percent of white voters and 40 percent of Hispanic voters. 

Trump also claimed Friday that he’d have the support of 95 percent of black Americans by the end of his first term ? a statistic that appears highly unlikely, given that Trump is currently polling around 1 percent with black voters nationally.

The candidate’s past attempts at appealing to black voters have not gone over so well: In a widely-mocked moment in June, he singled out a black supporter at a rally and asked the crowd to “look at my African-American over here.”

Hillary Clinton’s campaign condemned Trump’s remarks Friday evening.

“Donald Trump asks what the African American community has to lose by voting for him. The answer is everything from a man who questions the citizenship of the first African American President, courts white supremacists, and has been sued for housing discrimination against communities of color,” said Marlon Marshall, Clinton’s director of state campaigns and political engagement. “Trump painting the entire community as living in poverty with no jobs continues to show he is completely out of touch with the African American community.”

This story has been updated with a statement from the Clinton campaign.

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.