WEST BEND, Wis. — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump went to the Wisconsin suburbs Tuesday night to talk about America’s inner cities, court African-American voters and lay out a plan to restore law and order in the country.
“I’m asking for the vote of every African-American citizen struggling in our country today who wants a different and much better future,” Trump said in Washington County, which has a black population of 1.2%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“It’s time for our society to address some honest and very, very difficult truths,” Trump said. “The Democratic Party has failed and betrayed the African-American community. Democratic crime policies, education policies and economic policies have produced only more crime, more broken homes and more poverty.”
He ticked off statistics on crime, poverty and education that have plagued Milwaukee, which he said was a city run by Democrats “decade after decade.”
“To every voter in Milwaukee, to every voter living in the inner city or every forgotten stretch of our society, I’m running to offer you a much better future, a much better job,” Trump said.
The setting for the speech, not in the heart of Milwaukee but at the Washington County fairgrounds around 25 miles from the central city, appeared to be at odds with Trump’s pitch for African-American votes.
