Because we keep hearing so much about how convicted felon Donald Trump is doing "outreach" to Black voters, much of the press assumed that was what was going on with a recent Bronx rally where Trump made a big deal of appearing with a few D-list rappers who are facing criminal charges of their own. "Courting Black Voters, Trump Turns to Rappers Accused in Gang Murder Plot," declared the headline at the New York Times, which characterized the event as "clumsy" while taking Trump's purported overtures to Black voters at face value. Most outlets did, even though the rally itself was rather small.
This follows Trump and his media allies repeatedly claiming that his 2023 mug shot, from his arrest in Georgia on charges related to his attempt to steal the 2020 presidential election, would endear him to Black voters. "That’s why the Black people like me," Trump said of his mug shot," because they see what’s happening to me happens to them." Fact check: While there are a couple of Black defendants who were in the conspiracy, the vast majority of people charged with crimes related to the coup or the January 6 insurrection are white.
