The man who was once inspired by Bernie Sanders’ anti-establishment message to galvanize Black voters in support of the Vermont Senator is now putting his power behind the polarizing and often off the cuff messaging of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
In an interview with Buzzfeed News, Bruce Carter said he believes a partnership with the Trump campaign and Republicans will reel in the highest percentage of Black votes since the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Enter “Trump For Urban Communities,” Carter’s latest effort to pull in Black voters behind the candidate of his choice.
With “Urban Communities,” Carter’s hope is to place 2,000 staffers in Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania – about 1,300 more staffers than Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has had in recent months, Buzzfeed notes.
“A partnership means that both [sides] have an obligation to do something. It allows me to hold people accountable,” he told the outlet.
“It’s about getting people to buy into the partnership. No other campaign has considered spending this kind of money.”
But why did a Black voter, who once stood behind Sanders and policies that are arguably closer to Clinton’s, create such a huge effort for a presidential candidate who has often said disparaging comments about people of color on the campaign trail? Black voters, Carter believes, don’t care about Trump’s racism allegations.
From Buzzfeed:
Carter said allegations that have dogged Trump, such as housing discrimination and former colleagues declaring that he’s never cared about people of color don’t bother him. He’s voting for him — “I would feel like a hypocrite if I didn’t,” he said — and doesn’t believe voters care all that much. Or he’s banking on that, anyway.
“The thought process is that people won’t vote for Trump because he’s racist or crazy and he’s talked [negatively] about people,” Carter said. Not so for black voters who are looking for an opportunity, he said. “They don’t care about that.”
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Carter’s concern is that Black voters are too loyal to the Democratic Party. With that loyalty comes failure.
“What we’ve gotten from the Democrat Party, it’s been zero. So now it’s like you have no option but to do something different if you want a different result.”
And while Carter says he’s “not against anyone,” the site for Urban Communities does use footage of the Hon. Minister Louis Farrakhan slamming Clinton, Buzzfeed reports.
“Some black Republicans have asked me, ‘Are you anti-Hillary or are you pro-Trump?’ I’m not against anyone person, but I’m for a Trump partnership if it provides what we need for our community.”
You can read more on Carter’s new initiative, here.