President Donald Trump headed back to Iowa in a last-ditch bid to bolster backing for Republican candidates who, in a state as solidly red as Iowa, ought not require any external help.
Yet, during a campaign address, he launched into a peculiar tirade that may have alienated Black voters as he again fixated on skin color.
Trump traveled to Dubuque on Sunday, with only two days remaining before the pivotal midterm elections, and, in the middle of his remarks at the Five Flags Center, he strayed from the prepared text.
The president abruptly began pondering the terminology to use for Black people.
“If you’re Black, if you’re African-American, I say to a lot of my Black friends, ‘Let me ask you would you prefer to be called African-American or Black?’ And it’s pretty much a mix. In other words, you’re in trouble no matter what you do,” Trump stunningly said out of the blue while surrounded by his white MAGA faithful.
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The awkward digression left many scratching their heads. Critics quickly noted that Trump has never once asked aloud what to call white people or brown people. White or Caucasian? Brown or Latino?
But the tirade wasn’t over yet.
“I say, ‘Well should I say Black? Yes.’ Then I’ll be with another. ‘No, I like African-American better.’ So, no matter what you do, but it doesn’t matter,” he groused, weaving himself into a knot.
The online conversation exploded.
“Racist old man rants racist garbage as Republicans cheer,” one X user shot back.
“The Buffoon is getting worse. He has no such friends,” another wrote.
A third could not ignore the premise: “The racist has ‘Black friends’?”
Then came the reply that pierced the rambling monologue and left Trump with egg on his face.
“You call them the same thing you call your white friends…..BY THEIR NAME!!!!”
Trump’s alleged racist tendencies have long been a point of criticism. He has repeatedly faced accusations from public figures, civil rights groups, and even relatives over his use of racially charged language and his policies viewed as discriminatory. He and his supporters have consistently denied these claims.
Yet over the past month, Trump has been known to target Michigan’s Democratic Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed with a barrage of epithets, labeling him with terms ranging from Muhammad and jihadist to terrorist and Muslim Brotherhood member. None of these charges have any factual basis.
Just last week at a Florida campaign stop, he once more drew lines around his so-called friends along ethnic lines.
“I have a friend; he’s Jewish. He said, ‘What do you think I should do in Michigan?’ I said, ‘Are you stupid?’ He’s not voting for Abdul,” Trump ranted.
The president then rambled about another friend who is Black. “He said, ‘What do you recommend?’ I said, ‘I recommend you go, Republican.’ He said, ‘OK, that’s what I’m going to do!’”
A few moments later, he addressed voters directly.
“If you’re Black or if you’re Jewish and you vote for Abdul, you’re not smart. And I’m being nice,” Trump stated brazenly.
Those comments came after another outburst at a rally in South Carolina.
“If you’re Black or if you’re Jewish and if you vote for Abdul, you’re crazy, OK, you’re crazy,” Trump ranted.
Then he added, “You’re crazy anyway.”
The midterm election on Tuesday is expected to determine who controls Congress, with Republicans holding only a razor-thin edge in the House and the Senate now in play after what opponents call Trump’s disastrous two years in office.
