As he puts together his Cabinet and prepares to take office, president-elect Donald Trump has been traveling the nation on his “Thank You” tour, holding large rallies and thanking his supporters for electing him as their 45th president. During these events, he has spent more time touting his own campaign efforts, and the staggering odds he had to overcome, than attempting to bridge the deep divide that exists in the country. During Thursday’s rally in Hershey, PA, he addressed the role of African Americans in his win, thanking the “smart” ones who “didn’t come out to vote.”
“That was the big thing, so thank you to the African-American community,” he said, before letting the mostly-white crowd cheer for the country’s non-voting African-Americans. His message seemed to imply his belief that blacks were wise to stay home, instead of taking the expected course of voting for a Democratic candidate, as Trump clearly feels that Clinton would have let them down.
Clinton carried 88 percent of the black vote in the recent election, compared to Trump’s 8 percent. Even so, some pundits feel that Clinton could have beaten Trump had she come closer to Obama’s numbers in the 2012 election, when he won 93 percent of the black vote. Though Trump thanking the African Americans who abstained from voting is problematic, he could be right about them having an important influence in his surprising victory.
Trump is the first Republican candidate to win Pennsylvania since 1988.
Go to the 1:06:29 mark to hear these remarks.
