Politics and Society
Trump: Black people are lazy, it is not anything they can control
Is Donald Trump a racist hiding in plain site? The Republican Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election has said some things in the past that suggest that he is either (at best) not the biggest fan of black people or (at worst) a rabid racist. What happens when you put a closeted racist in power in the world’s most powerful country? Africa and the world may find out in a couple of months
This week it became official. Billionaire real estate magnet and reality TV star Donald J. Trump had clinched the ticket to become the Republican Party’s nominee for the 2016 presidential race. Trump is set for a drag-out, bare-knuckle of a political fight with former US First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. His path to the White House, if the polls are to be believed, is narrow but are we are living in unpredictable times. Brexit anyone?
Trump: Laziness is a trait in blacks
Given his proximity to power, this is probably an opportune moment to probe Trump’s soul, especially as regards his views towards black people. It is an issue that touches This Is Africa’s particular news peg and, more importantly, will inform how the Apprentice Star will engage with Africa. In our research, we eventually came across this interesting excerpt from “Trumped!: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump-His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall”, a book by John O’Donnell, a former senior employee at one of Trump’s casinos.
According to O’Donnell’s recollection, Trump held very racist views about black people. This is how a particularly revealing conversation they once had went:
“Trump speaking about a black employee: Besides that, I’ve got to tell you something else. I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It’s not anything they can control….Don’t you agree?” He looked me square in the eyes and waited for my reply.”
That conversation in the book happens shortly after Trump tells O’Donnell that he hates it when black accountants count his money. Here’s a screenshot of the relevant section from O’Donnell’s book which you can read for yourself on Google Books:
Book excerpt containing Donald Trump’s racist opinion of a black employee and black people in general.
Trump in a 1999 interview with Playboy magazine said that the things O’Donnell had written about him in his tell-all book were “probably true”.
That conversation in the book happens shortly after Trump tells O’Donnell that he hates it when black accountants count his money
“Waste 7 dollars in Africa”
Since he needs the black vote to win in the November election, Trump lately hasn’t been letting people know his “real” feelings about black people. But if any Africans are in doubt about Trump’s disdain for black people in general, I invite you to look at This Is Africa’s reporting, based on his past statements, on Trump’s likely treatment of the continent if he does clinch the presidency.
You’ll find gems like his dismissal of Africa as irredeemably corrupt.
We should be concerned about the American worker & invest here. Not grant amnesty to illegals or waste $7B in Africa.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2013
Every penny of the $7 billion going to Africa as per Obama will be stolen – corruption is rampant!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2013
Or his view that West Africa should have been left to its own devices during the Ebola epidemic.
Why are we sending thousands of ill-trained soldiers into Ebola infested areas of Africa! Bring the plague back to U.S.? Obama is so stupid.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2014
How dumb is our president to send thousands of poorly trained and ill-equipped soldiers over to West Africa to fight Ebola. Stop all flights
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2014
Or his view, alas, that the late liberation icon Nelson Mandela, unlike himself, wasn’t so great after all.
I really like Nelson Mandela but South Africa is a crime ridden mess that is just waiting to explode-not a good situation for the people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2013
Yesterday Obama compared Nelson Mandela to George Washington in Africa. Do you think he really believes it?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2013
Trump has a large fan base in Africa mostly due his reality TV show so, no doubt, some apologists will leap to his defence. Because they can’t refute O’Donnell’s account, they will most likely argue that Trump, after some reflection over the years has self-corrected and is no longer, to use a Trumpism, a “hater of black people”. That is a vain hope indeed.
