CNN political commentator Angela Rye condemned African-American Trump supporters like Pastor Mark Burns, Katrina Pierson, and Diamond & Silk for touting the record employment numbers for black and Latino Americans.
“I think Donald Trump does not have a strong record to stand on as it relates to black unemployment,” Rye said. “He has Barack Obama’s record to stand on with that, and I think that at some point black folks have got to look themselves in the mirror and say, hey, do I want to follow Mark Burns? Do I want to follow Katrina Pierson? Do I want to follow Diamond and Silk? Who the hell are these people, right?”
Rye on the “woke” campaign message from the Trump campaign team:
ANGELA RYE, CNN: I think that I’m asleep, and I think that the good news is that a number of us have kind of stopped saying woke, so welcome to the party, y’all, but now we’re asleep on that. And I think the reality of it is, just to go back to what Tara [Setmayer] was just saying, is Donald Trump does not have a tremendous record to stand on as it relates to criminal justice reform. He has one bill passed. And a strategy that has not served black and brown people for years from before his election, right?
I think Donald Trump does not have a strong record to stand on as it relates to black unemployment. He has Barack Obama’s record to stand on with that, and I think that at some point black folks have got to look themselves in the mirror and say, hey, do I want to follow Mark Burns? Do I want to follow Katrina Pierson? Do I want to follow Diamond and Silk? Who the hell are these people, right?
Instead, you want to give Donald Trump kudos for throwing Cheez-It bits at you and then criticize the people who have spent their careers doing things for the betterment of black people and black society. And I would just say at that point, if you still go over to Donald Trump after that, shame on you. Period.