Where Were Black People At BLACK Conservative Federation Gala Trump Spoke To

Over the weekend you might have seen clips of various racist comments Trump made while speaking to the annual gala of the Black Conservative Federation. It was held in Columbia, SC this past Friday night and while Trump’s comments were well received in the room they got a ton of shall we say sharp retorts both on social media and on weekend news shows from pundits. Well, if the comments went over well in the actual room maybe the reason is that the audience was virtually all WHITE people!

Now, I think it’s great that lots of white people would show up to support black people at an event. However, given the GOP’s longstanding attitudes and policies there’s a reason you don’t see many conservative black folks. The ones that are and who have some money or success the GOP of course shoves front and center. It’s a political version of the “I’m not racist, I even have a good friend who’s black” we’ve all heard so often over the years. Still, one would think at a gig like this, a gala for black conservatives the GOP would have made sure to have a notable number of attendees (even if some were paid actors) so that it would be easy to spot black people in the crowd. But it was almost exclusively white, to the point of the (very few and I mean that literally) black people in attendance being virtually impossible to spot. See for yourself with this clip provided by Crooks & Liars:

An opinion piece by Kendra Lee of The Root gives a description of the event. She begins by wondering just who Trump thinks he’s fooling during his appeal to black voters in South Carolina and says his comparisons were absurd. She notes him talking about  his 91 felony indictments and comparing it to injustices people of color face in the justice system. I gather she didn’t think his implication he was just like black people because he too now knows “being discriminated against” was offensive to her. Hey, I’m an old white guy but I can see why people of color would, as Lee did say to themselves who the hell does this guy think he is? Does  he really think we’re that stupid? (The various pundits I’ve seen pretty much make it clear they’re offended because Trump clearly DOES think black folks and other minorities are indeed that stupid)

Lee goes on to say:

He stuck his foot in further, citing the Georgia mug shot from last summer as a reason Black voters would choose him come November. He then claimed he’d pardoned many people in the room of 500 before asking Black supporters in the room to stand. After repeated entreaties raised only one such person, he joked, “The lights are so bright in my eyes I … can only see the Black ones. I can’t see any White ones.”

Well, that quick pan of the crows shows why the one black person who stood up stood out! He didn’t need to bother standing up. He could have just raised his hand and in that sea of white people Trump could have picked him out.  Well, smarter people than me have been weighing in on this including plenty of people of color. Those pundits I see are also smarter than me and have experience real racism. I don’t have to have experience what they have to think “wow, that’s some really racist sh*t Trump was talking. Try as I might I can’t imagine how offensive it was to people who spent decades living it.

I should include some social media responses Ms. Lee provided:included:

Threads user @ronaldfilipkowski pointed out the obvious reason for the lone supporter: “Wait, I thought this was supposed to be a group of ‘Black Conservatives?’ I see a bunch of white people.”

And this:

TikTok user @beto.media posted clips of the speech and said something similar: “Before a mostly white crowd at what was called the Black Conservative Federation Gala.”

And finally:

BlueSky user @JaxMax responded, “Ya he talks like that because he is a racist .. pretty simple.”

She does note the state’s GOP chair Drew McKissick defended Trump’s remarks. Typical stuff you’d expect from someone in his position but the part that struck me was: “Those black conservatives who are engaged n our party, who support the president, they invited him to come be there, and I’m sure enjoyed having him there last night.”  My initial reaction (which hasn’t faded) is WHAT black people? I feel like it’s the old “who are you going to believe – me or your lying eyes?” gaslighting.

Yo dude – MY eyes see just fine and they aren’t lying. The attendees of that gala were almost exclusively WHITE. You could have at least, since you knew Trump’s remarks would get televised have made sure to have if not twenty percent (plus) black (to reflect the population of South Carolina) then at least something in the low teens to reflect the percentage of black people nationwide. You couldn’t even be bothered to do that. Again, I’m a freaking white guy and I’m offended, in part because your Turd Emperor’s message was really aimed at people like me.

To convince me and other white people of the LIE that “blacks are rallying to Trump” and to talk up that lie to fellow white folks. Because, as Ms. Lee states concluding her article:

Indeed. We know his performance art is clearly designed for the white folks in Friday night’s audience, no matter what spin Repugs try to put on it.

Until I saw the pieces from The Root and also Crooks & Liars I kind of wondered why, in the clips I saw of Trump’s speech he never spoke of or hauled out those ugly gold sneakers he’s hawking. Now I know. He was talking to a room full of white folks. (Snark alert) And as “everyone knows” us white folks aren’t all “I gotta get me those!” over sneakers. That’s what all black folks do.

Back to real talk to conclude. Trump got a nice reception because he had a room full of well-to-do South Carolina/southern white folks. Some, probably mostly the guys were doing the old routine: “wink wink hardy har har – them black folks who see this on TV are stupid enough to start thinking they’d better jump on the Trump Train.” Others, especially probably the women folk would be aghast at being called racist. Such well-heeled southern belles would protest “But I/we at church collect money every year and give a $500 scholarship to a deserving black high school senior!” That type of thing easily clears their conscience and allows them to avoid thinking whether maybe they do in fact think and act in racist fashion.

In any case I’m certain Ms. Lee is correct and that the real target audience for Trump’s speech was white people. In fact, I’m pretty sure MAGAs will eat up Trump’s remarks with a spoon. Everyone else? Not so much.