'Didn't see a lot of Black people there': Sunny Hostin and her 'The View' co-hosts discuss Trump visiting Black church in Detroit
NEW YORK CITY, NEW CITY: Hosts Sunny Hostin, Whoopi Goldberg, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines, and Ana Navarro discussed former president Donald Trump visiting a Black church in Detroit on Saturday as part of his reelection campaign, on Monday, June 17 episode of 'The View'.
The presumptive GOP nominee, who turned 78 recently, told the crowd at the 180 Church that President Joe Biden has "been worst president for Black people." He also argued that the community was "being hurt" by illegal immigrants, who are "invading your jobs", reported CBS News.
Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg call out Donald Trump's audience at 180 Church
Broaching the subject at the Hot Topics table, Whoopi Goldberg requested footage of the attendees of Donald Trump's Black church meeting to be played, which showed a large number of White people in the mix.
"Now I'm not sure most of these people even knew where that Church was before they knew he was coming there," she said.
Picking up the conversation after her, Hostin shared that while politicians went to Black churches "five to six months before an election" to get votes, they ideally needed to visit "year after year" as "Black churches have been sort of the bastion of the Civil Rights movement, and it's a political thing for us."
Hostin labeled the 180 Church as "controversial" and claimed that the members wanted to oust its pastor. She also highlighted that while Trump's meeting was attended by roughly 300 people, she "didn't see a lot of Black people there."
"I don't know how much longer we have to say, this isn't about Black voters choosing between Biden and Trump. This is about Black voters choosing between Biden and the couch. It's not about Trump, (who) has no chance of getting a majority of Black voters... It's a fallacy," she added.
Alyssa Farah Griffin on Black voters shifting to the Right
"There is some evidence that shows there's been a shift," noted Griffin after Hostin. "It's fairly small - 12% of African American voters voted for Donald Trump in 2020, 14% of African American men did."
"So this has been extrapolated in some Republican circles to say, there is a real opportunity to make inroads with those communities. Now Donald Trump ... (has) interpreted that to mean, 'Oh, they like me because of things like I am a convicted felon and they think the criminal justice system is flawed.' Aside from being offensive, (he) is completely misreading the moment," she said.
"This is a seismic shift that has happened over the last 20 years where sort of like Bill Clinton's core demographic of blue-collared voters have started to shift rightward because they care about things like trade, border security, offshoring American jobs- things that Donald Trump talks (about)," Griffin continued. "Whereas a lot of more highly educated voters have shifted to the left."
"I don't think it has much to do with identity, I think it's a lot more issues driven," she said, claiming that Trump picking a Black running mate for 2024 would therefore not be much helpful for Republicans.
"By the way, the polls of people saying they have a preference for Trump, Black voters, outpaces actually historically what he has won- 12% in 2020, compared to George Bush in 2004 (who) got 11%. It's not a dramatically different number, it's just sort of a shift towards the right," Griffin concluded.
