President Trump retweeted a claim on Saturday evening by a Twitter follower that he had been the best president for black people in the hi...
President Trump retweeted a claim on Saturday evening by a Twitter follower that he had been the best president for black people in the history of the United States.
The tweet by Kenyan David Kyalo Musyoka wrote: 'Trump has done more for Blacks than all the other Presidents combined! Are we together?'
The tweet was quickly reposted by the president who gleefully took the comment with a small dose of humility adding that President Abraham Lincoln, who ended slavery in 1863, may well have done more for such relations than the current occupier of the White House.
'So true, although Honest Abe wasn't bad. Thank you!' Trump wrote in return.
Presigodent Trump retweeted a claim on Saturday evening by a Twitter follower that he had been a good popular president for black people
The tweet was quickly reposted by the president who gleefully took the comment with a small dose of humility
The tweet praising Trump's treatment of black people was made by David Kyalo Musyoka on Twitter. Musyoka appears to be based in Kenya according to his social media profiles
Lincoln, who served as the nation's 16th president between 1861–1865, engineered the end to slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation and his order that the Army protect escaped slaves
Lincoln, who served as the nation's 16th president between 1861–1865, engineered the end to slavery with his Emancipation Proclamation and his order that the Army protect escaped slaves.
He also encouraged border states to outlaw slavery, and promoted the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which outlawed slavery across the country.
Despite praise on Twitter from the Kenyan, recent reporting by Vox suggests the President's policies towards the African-American community has in fact led to a greater number of deaths from the coronavirus in that particular community.
The report suggested that the Trump administration's policies 'have exacerbated the health conditions that are leading to more coronavirus fatalities among black Americans.'
'We're seeing tremendous evidence that African Americans are affected at a far greater percentage number than other citizens of our country,' Trump said at one of his daily coronavirus press conferences in April 'But why is it that the African American community is so much, numerous times more than everybody else? We want to find the reason to it.'
Aside from the current crisis, there have been numerous instances throughout President Trump's term where he has been accused of being racist towards black people.
One notably disturbing incident occurred last July when Trump made a comment about former United States Representative Elijah Cummings and his Baltimore district.
'If racist Elijah Cummings would focus more of his energy on helping the good people of his district, and Baltimore itself, perhaps progress could be made in fixing the mess that he has helped to create over many years of incompetent leadership,' Trump said in a tweet.
In a post on Twitter, Trump called Cummings' district 'disgusting, rat and rodent infested. No human being would want to live there,' he said.
The tweets drew pointed responses from Democrats, who said the comments were racist, a charge which Trump later denied.
'There is nothing racist in stating plainly what most people already know, that Elijah Cummings has done a terrible job for the people of his district, and of Baltimore itself,' Trump said.
Cummings passed away in October of last year.
Trump's remarks echoed a similar attack he made in January 2017 against another black lawmaker and icon of the civil rights movement, John Lewis.
President Trump was accused of being racist against former United States Representative Elijah Cummings, but the president denied such a charge
Last year he also recently told four minority women lawmakers to 'go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came from.'
'I absolutely think it's important to call it out for what it is, which is racism,' former Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro said at the time.
'There's a pattern here,' he added. 'That's how he thinks he won in 2016 and that's how he thinks he's going to win in 2020.'
In 2016, Trump did poorly among black voters, winning just 8% of their votes in the election.
Twitter followers were quick to respond and refute the suggestion that Trump had been a positive influence on the black community or had been as effective as Abraham Lincoln
In February, the Public Religion Research Institute released the results from a survey that suggest Trump wasn't particularly popular with black people at all.
'Black Americans are remarkably unified in their opposition to Trump,' read a memo breaking down the PRRI data.
More than 3 in 4 African Americans held a 'mostly' or 'very' unfavorable view of Trump in 2019, with 56% of those saying they view the president 'very' unfavorably.
Trump has repeatedly claimed he's 'the least racist person.'
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