Screenshot/YouTube
The Republican nominee, reading from a TelePrompTer in West Bend, painted his Democratic rival as complicit in the racially charged uprisings like the ones nearby Milwaukee saw last week after a fatal police shooting.
"Those peddling the narrative of cops as a racist force in our society - a narrative supported with a nod by my opponent - share directly in the responsibility for the unrest in Milwaukee and many other places within our country," Trump said.
"Every time we rush to judgment with false facts and narratives, whether in Ferguson or in Baltimore, and foment further unrest, we do a direct disservice to poor African-American residents who are hurt by the high crime in their community - a big, big, unfair problem."
The speech came as recent polls have shown Trump with as little as 0% support among black voters in key swing states. A recent New York Times report highlighted the businessman's questionable efforts to court the demographic.
The setting of Tuesday's rally didn't seem to allay the criticism. As many observers pointed out, West Bend is close to 100% white, and a world apart from the inner-city violence Trump referenced throughout the speech.
Trump is speaking in West Bend. Here's the Census bureau breakdown of that city: less than 1% black pic.twitter.com/i8WCdjZvMw
- Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) August 17, 2016
Trump made his pitch to black Dems from the most Republican county in Wisconsin (which voted 70% for Romney, 76% for Gov. Walker)
- Craig Gilbert (@WisVoter) August 17, 2016
Trump in a state he won't win trying to woo voters who have shown no interest in his message at all. The strategy here eludes me
- John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) August 17, 2016