Trump complained that Black voters 'all f------ hate me, and none of them are going to vote for me' after he'd 'done all this stuff' for them, book says
- Trump complained that Black voters " all f------ hate me" in 2020, according to a forthcoming book.
- Trump blamed Jared Kushner for criminal justice reform not improving his standing with Black voters.
- Trump lamented that "none of them are going to vote for me," according to the book by reporter Michael Bender.
Former President Donald Trump complained that Black Americans "all f------ hate me" and none would vote for him despite signing a major criminal justice reform bill into law, according to a forthcoming book by Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender.
"I've done all this stuff for the Blacks-it's always Jared telling me to do this," Trump told an associate on Father's Day 2020, according to the book. "And they all f------ hate me, and none of them are going to vote for me."
The latest excerpt from the book, titled "Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost," and set to be released in August, was published on Friday in Politico Magazine.
The book excerpt chronicled how the issue of criminal justice drove a wedge between Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, a White House advisor who championed the issue of criminal justice reform and worked to form relationships between the White House and prominent Black community leaders.
Trump felt that signing the First Step Act, bipartisan legislation that aims to reduce racial disparities in criminal sentencing, made him look weak and not tough on crime while not helping his standing with Black voters, according to the book.
Trump's mounting discontent with Kushner led him to avoid his son-in-law in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder by a former Minneapolis police officer.
Bender reported that Trump was privately horrified by the video of Floyd's murder, calling it "f------ terrible" and was dismayed by the conduct of the police officers involved in Floyd's death. He also pushed former attorney general Bill Barr to expedite a Department of Justice investigation into the matter.
But Trump took a much more aggressive tack in public, using his Twitter platform to call for force against rioters and protesters. One tweet, in which Trump stated that, "any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!" was restricted by Twitter for violating their policy against glorifying violence.
Trump's response to Floyd's death also halted any inroads the White House had been making with Black leaders. Trump did slightly improve over his 2016 performance with Black voters in his unsuccessful 2020 reelection bid.
"Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost" is being published by Twelve Books and will be released on August 10.