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On Tuesday’s episode of “The ReidOut,” Joy welcomed MSNBC’s the Rev. Al Sharpton and Katie Phang to discuss a growing narrative in conservative circles: that Donald Trump’s criminal cases are building up his credibility with Black voters.
I wanted to share excerpts of Sharpton’s remarks about pro-Trump rappers and others in the African American community who he said have been “seduced by Trump.”
The Rev’s comments relate to a number of posts I’ve written over the past year, like ones (here, here and here) about Trump essentially trying to portray himself as a gangster rapper in an effort to squirm out of legal accountability, and others (here and here) about conservatives using dubious tactics to win over Black men.
On Tuesday, Sharpton specifically addressed recent claims by conservatives that Trump’s felony charges — mug shot and all — make him more appealing to Black people. Particularly, Black men.
Fundamentally, it’s a racist claim — popular on right-wing social media channels these days — that presumes Black people are drawn to criminality.
Fundamentally, it’s a racist claim — popular on right-wing social media channels these days — that presumes Black people are drawn to criminality. And in reality, there’s no evidence whatsoever that an indicted Trump — who essentially stands accused of trying to disqualify votes in largely Black communities — will appeal to Black voters. But a smattering of Black rappers and others involved in hip-hop media have vocalized their support for Trump in recent months — even after the Georgia indictment was handed up.
Sharpton graciously schooled the aforementioned artists — and anyone else who thinks Trump being tied up in the legal system boosts his credibility with Black voters. (Watch a clip here.)
Sharpton said:
Let’s go to the 1990s, when five Black and brown young men were falsely accused of raping a white woman in Central Park. It was Donald Trump that took out ads in the papers in New York saying they should get the death penalty. So if they want to cite how Blacks have been abused by the criminal justice system, cite the case where we marched and eventually it was proven these five young men — that Donald Trump called on to get the death penalty — was in fact innocent.
Sharpton said Black men, in particular, should note the sheer hypocrisy in Trump’s lawyers citing the “Scottsboro Boys” trials as a reason to delay one of the former president’s trials until 2026. In 1931, several Black teenagers were accused of raping two white women in Alabama. They were rushed to trial within weeks and quickly convicted, but most of their convictions were reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Many of the Scottsboro Boys ultimately saw their charges dropped, while some have since received posthumous pardons.
“The only case of race in the criminal justice system that I’ve ever seen Donald Trump stand up for in New York, where he’s a native, was when he called for the death penalty of five innocent young Black and brown young men,” said Sharpton, who added: “And Black men need to know that they were all young Black men.”
Sharpton also said that members of the Exonerated Five (formerly known as the Central Park Five) could give ignorant rappers the true story about who Trump is.
“Let them come and tell the rappers and others that are being seduced by Trump what he did in his hometown to innocent Black men while we were marching around their innocence,” he said.
Sharpton added that Trump’s lawyers are “going back to the ’30s because they can’t go back to New York, where he discriminated against Blacks with housing and where he discriminated against these five young men and helped cause their long sentences that they were innocent of all along.”
I’m going to keep tracking the “Trump is popular with Black men” narrative in the lead-up to the 2024 election. Though it’s lacking in evidence, I have a feeling Republicans will keep repeating it like a mantra, hoping to make it a reality.