How much do any of us really know about black history month? Apparently, Donald Trump knows about the same amount. The Commander-in-Chief spoke briefly about the life and times of the civil rights movement’s central figures, such as Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., and frederick douglass.
Trump meets Douglass
MSNBC reported on an event at the White House the morning of Wednesday, Feb.
1st, where Trump took some time to honor Black History Month. The President commented on the contributions made by civil rights leaders, saying: “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who has done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice….” Some criticized the President for simply glossing over Douglass’ achievements, while others seemed to think he didn’t know who the revolutionary civil rights leader was at all.
Make Black History Great Again
Trump also managed to touch on the contributions Dr. Martin Luther King made to the civil rights movement and the historic celebration...sort of.
The Donald expressed his frustration over the publication of a “false” story that claimed that the President had removed MLK’s statue from the White House. Trump defended himself by saying he’d never touched the statue, but lamented about the media’s general unfairness toward him.
Twitter wars
The Don, of course, also faced massive backlash for his speech on social media. US Weekly stated that there were ample tweets attacking Trump, including one user who joked that The Orange One plagiarized his 4th grade report on Douglass. The gaffe was also mocked by others, with one user tweeting that they read the speech and believed the President to be “senile.” Others seemed to think the Pres didn’t realize Douglass was dead.
Trump History Month
The Don’s speech also touched on the amount of Black votes he garnered during the Presidential Election. The speech claimed that Trump garnered more votes from the African-American population than his opponents, which seems to hold up according to a Daily Wire article. The article states that The Don earned 19% support from African-Americans, while the normally high number of Blacks voting Democrat plummeted. Many called Trump out for making Black History Month all about him, and felt that he denied the great achievements of leaders such as Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King.