Republican front runner, Donald Trump has apparently been snubbed by several prominent black pastors. He has been courting their support for several months. In October, we reported that Trump had a meeting with several black Evangelical pastors in Trump Towers back in September. This story was first reported in the Conservative Tribune.
During Thanksgiving weekend, the Trump campaign leaked to the press that 100 black pastors and religious leaders would hold a news conference in Trump Towers on Monday, November 30. Speculation was that the pastors would announce their support of Trump’s candidacy.
News of this impending press conference swept through the black community like wildfire. Many black churchgoers queried their pastors to see if they were part of Trump’s scheme to get black voters. A very swift backlash raced throughout the black community.
“This is exactly what’s wrong with the Black Church today. They’ve become nothing but secular, money-hungry temples. They may as well apply for a casino license,” said an Atlanta area accountant.
Leon E. Frazier, former Chief of Police for the City of Tuskegee, Alabama, said, “If large groups of Blacks follow Trump down this road of destruction, we are bigger fools than I thought.”
Before church service on Sunday morning, black pastors who had been rumored in Trump’s hip pocket, were scurrying for cover and backing away from any involvement with the Trump campaign for president.
In our October article, we reported that E. Dewey Smith, a prominent Georgia pastor, had been among the group of preachers who met with Trump in September. Before he took the pulpit on Sunday morning, Smith had contacted this writer to say, “I have not met with Mr. Trump on any occasion[s]. I have not met with him & will not meet with him. I was invited to a meeting in September but declined to attend. An “invitee” list has been interpreted as an ‘attendee’ list,”
By Suppertime on Sunday evening, Trump had canceled the scheduled news conference. His campaign did advise that a private meeting with a group of prominent black preachers would still be held, but a press conference would not be held following this event where the group would pledge their support to Trump.
In recent weeks, Trump has come under fire for disparaging a New York Times reporter who has a physical disability. Also, Trump can be heard shouting to his supporters to throw a black man out of a campaign rally. The man was there to demonstrate on behalf of the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Failing to gain the support of these black pastors could be a big blow to the Trump campaign, because he needs this group to give him some credibility with minorities and with the religious community.
Trump is scheduled to appear at a campaign rally on Monday in Macon, Georgia, the hometown of Pastor Smith, following his private meeting with the preachers in Trump Towers earlier in the day.
Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com