Donald Trump hates the Town Hall format because his failures are laid bare, and that’s what happened in last night’s ABC News forum with George Stephanopoulos in which he was grilled about his dismal COVID response and racial injustice.
But first, this must-see “let me finish” moment.
Trump was asked by Pastor Carl Day: “When has America been great for African Americans in the ghetto of America? Are you aware of how tone deaf [MAGA] comes off to the African American community?”
Trump replied by talking about polls.
“Well, I can say this,” Trump replied. “We have tremendous African American support. You’ve probably seen it in the polls. … If you talk about Make America Great, and I’m talking about for the black community, you look just prior to this horrible situation from China, when the virus came in, that was probably the highest point for the black community. … “was the best single moment in the history of the African American people in this country.”
“When has America been great for African Americans in the ghetto of America? Are you aware of how tone deaf [MAGA] comes off to the African American community?”
— Holly Figueroa O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) September 16, 2020
Trump answers by saying that he’s got good polls.
🤷🏽♀️#TrumpTownHall
pic.twitter.com/xWcISGNeMV
Trump also attempted to blame Joe Biden for not implanting a national mask mandate.
Trump also repeated his claims that coronavirus would go away on its own, and said that “herd mentality” would do the trick. He may have meant “herd immunity,” which is when the virus is allowed to rip through the population and kill millions of people. This has already been pushed by multiple Trump aides.
Trump also denied that he downplayed the virus. But that’s not what he told Bob Woodward in March recordings.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t downplay it. I, actually, in many ways, I up-played it, in terms of action,” Trump claimed.
Added Trump: “I think what I did by closing up the country, I think I saved two, maybe two and a half [million], maybe more than that, lives. I really don’t think so. I think we did a very good job. I don’t know if that’s been recognized.”
