Trump complained he didn’t get ‘a lot of love’ from black people
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President Donald Trump told author Bob Woodward he has no responsibility to feel the ‘anger and the pain’ of African Americans – and then complained he didn’t get a lot of love from that group.
In his forthcoming book, ‘Rage,’ Woodward recounts a series of conversations he had with the president about race relations in the United States over some of the 18 interviews they conducted.
Woodward, in a June 19 interview, told Trump they shared a ‘white, privileged’ background, according to a copy of the book obtained by DailyMail.com.
President Donald Trump told author Bob Woodward he has no responsibility to feel the ‘anger and the pain’ of African Americans
In this White House photo from December 2019 provided by Bob Woodward, President Donald Trump is seen speaking to Woodward in the Oval Office, surrounded by some aides and advisers, as well as Vice President Mike Pence, then acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, then-White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and then-deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley. On Trump’s desk is a large picture of Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
‘Do you have any sense that that privilege has isolated and put you in a cave to a certain extent, as it put me and I think lots of white privileged people in a cave and that we have to work our way out of it to understand the anger and the pain, particularly, Black people feel in this country?’ Woodward asked him.
‘No,’ Trump responded. ‘You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you? Just listen to you. Wow. No, I don’t feel that at all.’
The interviews were held after the May 25 death of George Floyd and while Black Lives Matters protests were taking place through out the country.
The president went on to repeat to Woodward the argument he has made often – that he’s done more for African Americans than any president since Abraham Lincoln.
As the two men engaged on a back-and-forth about race relations, Woodward noted that Trump can be heard exhaling on the recording of the interview at one point in the conversation.
The president also, in response to Woodward’s question, said he had won the hearts and minds of African Americans – before the coronavirus pandemic came.
But Trump repeatedly tied his record of race relations to the unemployment numbers, pointing out the low record of unemployment among African Americans before the virus.
‘They had the best jobs! They were making more money than they ever made,’ he told Woodward.
Trump was criticized for his response to the protests, where he objected to those who torn down statues with links to the Confederacy and defended the right to wave the Confederate Flag, a racist symbol.
Days later, on June 22, Woodward spoke to Trump again and asked the president whether he thinks there is ‘systemic or institutional racism in this country.’
‘Well, I think there is everywhere,’ Trump said. ‘I think probably less here than most places. Or less here than many places.’
‘OK. But is it here? In a way that it has an impact on peoples’ lives?’ Woodward asked.
‘I think it is. And it’s unfortunate. But I think it is,’ Trump responded.
President Trump and author Bob Woodward spoke 18 times, including as Black Lives Matter protests were taking place around the White House
The president also argued he’s more of a person who gets things done than someone who would talk about what’s in his heart.
‘I’m somebody that likes to get things done rather than talk,’ he told Woodward.
And, asked if he should go on a listening tour around the country, Trump instead talked about what he could do for the economy.
‘I listen to people all the time. I like to listen to people. I hear what people are saying. I’m able to get things done economically. And that’s a very big part of the problem,’ he said.
Finally, in another conversation on July 8, Trump complained about his lack of support among black voters.
‘I’ve done a tremendous amount for the black community,’ he told Woodward. ‘And, honestly, I’m not feeling any love.’
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