Around this time eight years ago, Donald Trump believed he had a chance to make real inroads with Black voters, despite his lengthy record of overt racism. “Look at how much African-American communities are suffering from Democratic control,” the then-candidate said in reference to Barack Obama’s presidency.
It’s against this backdrop that the presumptive GOP nominee, encouraged by polling showing a surprising number of African-American voters giving Trump a fresh look, is recycling his rhetoric from 2016. Speaking to a largely white audience in Washington, D.C., this past weekend, the former president once again said he had a familiar question for Black voters: “What they hell do you have to lose?” As it turns out, the answer is readily available.