September 14, 2024
The weeklong tour was hosted by the Black Conservative Foundation.
There may have been more hecklers and jeers directed at a bus emblazoned with “I’m not with her” and “Black voters for Trump” than there were actual supporters of the bus and its messaging at the final stop of the Black Voters for Trump tour in Baltimore on Sept. 12.
According to WYPR, fewer than 12 people attended the last stop on the weeklong tour, which was created by the Black Conservative Foundation to drum up Black support for the Republican Party and its nominee, Donald J. Trump.
According to Black Conservative Foundation President Diante Johnson, “No one knows how bad the Democratic Party has been then the people in Baltimore, then the people in Chicago, then the people in these liberally-run areas.”
However, the voters of Maryland seem to have a different take on Trump and the Republican Party, as Trump lost Maryland soundly in both the 2016 and 2020 election cycles. As a result, the party faces an uphill battle, particularly in races where the Republican Party candidate is tied either explicitly or by association to Trump.
In Maryland, former Republican Governor Larry Hogan, Christopher Anderson (a candidate for Baltimore City’s 7th City Council District), and Kimberly Klacick (running for Baltimore’s District 2 seat and the special guest at the Baltimore tour stop) are all up against formidable Democratic opposition.
Trump’s criticism of predominantly Black cities has often veered into vitriol, some say, bordering on dog-whistle racism. In 2019, he described former Rep. Elijah Cummings’ district—encompassing much of Baltimore, a majority Black city—as a “disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess.” Additionally, at a gala hosted by the Black Conservative Foundation in early 2024, Trump suggested that Black people might relate to him due to his numerous indictments and mugshots.
However, members of the Black Conservative Foundation defended Trump, saying that his record is more important than the racism to them.
Brenda Tchaim, a former Republican in Maryland’s House of Delegates and the leader of the foundation’s Maryland chapter, told the outlet, “As a Black woman, I don’t see the racism… I look at his policies. When [Trump] was a Democrat, they love him… Jesse Jackson loved him, Oprah Winfrey loved him, all of these elite Black people loved him but now that he’s a Republican, all of a sudden he’s a racist.”
Anderson, who is a member of the foundation, told WBAL-TV that he supports Trump due to his “Platinum Plan.”
“We know what he’s going to do for us,” Anderson said. “When he was in power, his administration had a platinum plan just for Black folks.”
However, members of the Northwood Plaza community voiced their displeasure at having the bus in their community.
Leslie Harvey, a resident of the community, told WBAL-TV that she thought sending a bus in support of Trump to that area didn’t make much sense.
“Why would you send Trump people here in our area? It don’t make sense for them to send someone out and thinking someone’s going to follow you that way,” Harvey said.
Another resident, Tiana Smith, told the outlet that she found the bus tour appearance disrespectful.
“I’m extremely shocked and angry and appalled, and it’s disrespectful to have this here, whatever it is,” Smith said. “It’s a slap in the face. He clearly said he’s not for the Black community or anybody else.”
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