ABC/ Ida Mae Astute(FREDERICKSBURG, Va.) — Speaking to a largely white audience in Virginia Saturday afternoon, Donald Trump continued to make his appeal to African-American voters, blaming his own party for failing to garner black support.
“I fully recognize the outreach to the African-American community is an area where the Republican party must do better and it will do better. The GOP is the party of Abraham Lincoln,” Trump said. “And I want our party to be the home of the African-American voter once again.”
Unlike other cities in which Trump has made this appeal in recent days, which were overwhelmingly white, Fredericksburg does have a more substantial African-American population; 24.4 percent, according to the latest Census figures.
Earlier Saturday, in conjunction with the Republican National Committee, Trump attended a roundtable with the National Hispanic Advisory Council for Trump, a board that is an outreach arm of the RNC.
In his remarks at the Fredericksburg Expo Center, he reiterated his plan to stop illegal immigration, saying “border crossers” are to blame for unemployment among Hispanics and African-Americans.
“It’s getting worse now as thousands of recent border crossers are being relocated to the state of Virginia. And you don’t know who they are,” Trump said. “The people hurt most by our open border are low-income Hispanic and African-Americans who are competing for jobs and community resources against new arrivals.”
Though former Celebrity Apprentice star Omarosa Manigault is Trump’s Director for African-American Outreach, the campaign has no formal group or coalition doing outreach specifically to minority voters.
This week, in the wake of a campaign shakeup, Trump has pushed to woo African-American voters.
“We reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton, who sees people of color only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future,” Trump said.
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