Here’s video of Don King accidentally dropping the N-word while introducing Donald Trump at a Cleveland church pic.twitter.com/HK4FWpVEC0
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) September 21, 2016
When Bloomberg and other outlets reported former boxing promoter Don King would join Donald Trump at a campaign event in Cleveland, Ohio, the Internet braced itself. And rightly so, for as heinous as some of Trump’s recent gaffes have been, Mike Tyson’s former associate possesses a smorgasbord of a rap sheet that includes, but isn’t limited to, an overturned manslaughter conviction and various financial quandaries. Hence why King’s name began trending on Twitter long before he dropped the N-word and discussed the importance of white women in getting Trump elected come November.
“We need Donald Trump, especially black people!” King told the crowd at Cleveland’s New Spirit Revival Center, one of the city’s larger African-American churches. “They told me you’ve got to emulate and imitate the white man, and then you can be successful. So we tried that… I told Michael Jackson, I said ‘If you’re poor, you are a poor negro.’ I will use the N-word.”
When King initially said it, it came as a surprise both to him and to his audience, who laughed slightly at the utterance. Even Trump, who was seated behind King on the left, released his trademark smile — though only after King acknowledged the word and continued using it throughout the remainder of his speech.
Don King at Cleveland church: “Every white woman should cast their vote for Donald Trump…to knock out the system.” https://t.co/bwccpiUuE9
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 21, 2016
Then again, dropping the N-word a few times wasn’t the only eye-catching thing King did or said during his remarks. He also spent a chunk of time explaining the importance of “the white woman” to the 2016 presidential election. Why? Because, per King’s logic, white women hold the key to ensuring Trump becomes the next President of the United States:
“The white woman did not have the rights, and she still don’t have the rights. And people of color don’t have their rights. Those are the left-outs. Donald Trump says ‘No, we’re going back to inclusiveness. Everybody counts!’ So that’s why when I seem them try to ridiculize (sic) him or to try to ostracize and pervert… I want you to understand [that] every white woman should cast their vote for Trump. Not for Donald Trump the man, but to knock out the system. To help him get their rights and be able to deal with it.”
Technically, King ended his comments about white women’s voting power with a plea not to vote for Trump, but to vote against what he considers to be a biased political system. That is a really strange way to promote one’s preferred presidential candidate, but whatever. This election is weird.
(Via Oliver Darcy on Twitter, ABC News and Bloomberg Politics)
