President Donald Trump’s newest remarks about Black girls have set off a wave of shock — even amongst a few of his personal supporters — after he described a mysterious group whose devotion to him, he claimed, was rising stronger by the day.
Throughout a Cupboard assembly Tuesday on the White Home, Trump claimed he’s seen “a drive of Black girls” in Chicago “pleading” for him to avoid wasting them. Nevertheless it has many on-line questioning who, if anybody, he was truly speaking about.
“The folks of Chicago are strolling round with MAGA hats,” Trump mentioned. “You will have girls, stunning Black girls, strolling round with MAGA hats. ‘Please let the president in and we don’t care how he does it … deliver within the Marines.’”
Earlier this month when requested about criticism from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Trump lashed out, accusing the 2 Democrats of “failing their very own metropolis” earlier than pivoting to his now-familiar speaking level about Black girls urging him to intervene.
“I see Black girls, sporting a pink MAGA hat, final evening on tv [saying] ‘Please let the president are available in. My son was attacked, my—’ you’ve got a drive of Black girls, Black girls, they’re like, solely Trump. They need Trump to return in,” he mentioned.
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The president’s repeated references to Black girls baffled many observers, particularly in a metropolis the place greater than 70 % of voters supported Kamala Harris within the 2024 election.
On social media, customers ridiculed Trump’s feedback as each delusional and pandering.
“Does he suppose saying ‘stunning Black girls’ makes him sound much less racist than he’s??? As a result of it doesn’t,” one person wrote on Threads.
One other added, “He lies utilizing that line about Black girls, as a result of he is aware of full effectively Black girls have been the most important demographic that DID NOT vote for him in 2024.” A 3rd summed up the temper bluntly: “Hallucinating nonstop lately.”
Some reached their boiling level, “That’s an entire LIE!! I stay in Chicago and that’s NOT occurring. There no black girls strolling round anyplace right here in Chicago strolling round with a MAGA hat on. Cease mendacity so rattling a lot, DAMN!!!🤬🤬🤬”
Whereas Trump provided no specifics, Chicago natives got here ahead to say the president was speaking about members of “Chicago Flips Pink,” a small group of Black Trump supporters who steadily attend metropolis council conferences to criticize Democratic management. The group’s founder, Patricia Easley, together with a number of members, mentioned their activism might have caught Trump’s consideration.
“You despatched me, you despatched [Chicago Flips Red founder] Zoe Leigh and also you despatched Danielle Carter a love observe, since you noticed the work that we have been doing in Metropolis Corridor,” mentioned Jessica Jackson, a South Shore resident, throughout a press convention at Chicago Metropolis Corridor. “You noticed us saying that we wished you to return into Chicago to cope with the Democratic machine.”
Nonetheless, most critics and metropolis officers aren’t shopping for it. Alvin B. Tillery Jr., professor of political science and African American research at Northwestern College, mentioned Trump’s story is “a bald-faced lie.”
“Black girls stay the Democratic Get together’s most loyal constituency and strongly against Donald Trump’s agenda,” Tillery advised HuffPost. “At finest, he might have seen a small handful of people on tv or social media, however it’s an entire distortion to current that as consultant of the views of Black girls in Chicago.”
Yini Zhang, assistant professor of communication on the College at Buffalo, agreed that Trump’s “drive of Black girls” comment was “obscure” at finest. “If we give Trump the advantage of the doubt, there may be a small group of Black girls who demanded troops to be despatched to the town to handle crime,” she mentioned, “however there’s no data to by any means counsel {that a} majority of Black girls maintain this place.”
Tillery referred to as Trump’s repeated references to Black girls a “deliberate political tactic.”
“He understands that Black girls are among the many most trusted voices in American politics — they anchor households, church buildings and group networks,” he mentioned. “By claiming that even this most loyal Democratic group is asking for his intervention, he’s attempting to lend legitimacy to an in any other case outrageous risk.”
Zhang famous that Trump’s framing of Black girls “serves a symbolic objective — to counsel a dramatic shift in public opinion.”
“The implicit message is, ‘Even those that didn’t vote for me are actually begging for my safety,’” she mentioned. “By framing Black girls as those in want of rescue, Trump positions federal troops as saviors, casting girls of colour as depending on army intervention.”
Trump’s declare additionally reignited a long-running debate over his fixation with Chicago — a metropolis he steadily portrays as lawless. Pritzker pushed again Monday, saying Trump had “determined to declare struggle on an amazing American metropolis that has the bottom murder price in 60 years.”
Some native Republicans defended Trump’s stance, insisting crime stays an issue. “You constantly get on TV and inform us that ‘I walked on the lakefront at 6:30 within the morning and I didn’t see any crime.’ No, that’s as a result of it was on 79th and Halsted that evening,” mentioned David Sheppard, a Republican working for the Illinois Home. “Sufficient is sufficient,” he added, calling for federal assist.
However specialists say Trump’s rhetoric about Chicago is deceptive and damaging. “Crime in Chicago has been trending downward, and most neighborhoods are protected, vibrant and stuffed with hardworking households,” Tillery mentioned. “When conservatives discuss Chicago as a struggle zone, they erase the humanity of its residents and gas harmful stereotypes that may justify heavy-handed and ineffective insurance policies.”
“They don’t need to repair something on this metropolis,” he added. “They only need to additional divide People.”
