Trump Says ‘Why The Hell Did I Do That’ On First Step Act After Black Poll Numbers Didn't Improve
Donald Trump isn’t happy over his poll numbers among African Americans. The president reportedly told his senior aides “Why the hell did I do that?” regarding the First Step Act after the criminal justice policy he implemented failed to improve his standing among Black voters.
Current and former administration officials told the Washington Post that Trump initially refused to support the initiative but changed his mind only after senior aides informed him it would better his horrible standing among Black voters. Since the bill passed in 2018, around 4,700 incarcerated people have been released or had their prison sentences reduced. An ex-Trump administration official claims Trump went “S***house crazy” after learning the poll numbers news.
The Post also reports that Trump scolded his then-adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman for working to increase funding for historically Black colleges and universities because the move failed to garner support among Black voters. Manigault Newman resigned as an adviser in December 2017.
"You've been at this for four months, Omarosa," Trump said, according to The Post. "But the numbers haven't budged."
Donald Trump has always fared poorly among Black voters. As a candidate in 2016, exit polling shows he gained only eight percent of their votes, compared to then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s overwhelming 88 percent.
Recent polling by the Pew Research Center indicates that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has nearly an 89 percent lead over Trump among Black voters.
