Donald Trump is hot on the campaign trail in California where he and Hillary Clinton have been exchanging rival rally barbs over his foreign policy and her email scandal. Meanwhile, the Trump University lawsuit is still raging with damning details, but what really bothers Trump is how the federal judge on the case is named Judge Gonzalo Curiel. Trump believes that’s pretty unfair because he’s building a Wall, and he thinks that this is a “hater” judge who “we believe, is Mexican.” Latino members of the legal community are now accusing Trump of “injecting bigotry” into the proceedings. This is only the latest example of xenophobic rhetoric from Trump, and he somehow topped himself at a Redding, Calif. rally on Friday.
Daniel Dale, Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, was lucky enough to witness this befuddling rally moment. It appears that a black Trump supporter “cold-cocked” a protester (who was wearing a KKK hood) at a Tucson rally. Trump fondly remembered the guy (or perhaps this was a different man, who knows?) and singled him out as “my African-American” to prove that he does have a black fanbase:
“We had a case where we had an African-American guy who was a fan of mine. Great fan. Great guy. In fact I want to find out what’s going on with him. Look at my African-American over here. Look at him. Are you the greatest? You know what I’m talking about?”
Yes, there is video footage of this bizarre statement. First, let’s check out the baffled tweets from Dale.
My goodness. Donald Trump points to a black supporter and says, "Look at my African-American over here. Look at him!"
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 3, 2016
Donald Trump says he has lots of black support. As evidence, he is fondly talking about the black man who "cold-cocked" a protester.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 3, 2016
To recap: Trump calls violent protesters "thugs," Trump refers to "my African-American," Trump cites violent man as great black supporter.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 3, 2016
Would you like to see Trump make this excited claim while he demonstrates a complete lack of self awareness? Of course you would.
This Vine shall live on in infamy, and no wonder even Jerry Springer has renewed his head shaking over disrespectful Trump behavior. This could be the worst thing Trump’s said all week, but he’s still got a full weekend to go. If we’ve learned anything from this presidential race, it’s that anything could happen with this candidate.
For further context (there isn’t any), here’s a longer video of the moments leading up to Trump’s pronouncement.