Trump sneakers are latest use of racist tropes by the former president

Donald Trump claimed Black people like him because of his legal woes, while one analyst said it’s because they like sneakers.

This month, Donald Trump and his allies say the former president has appealed to Black voters because they can identify with his legal troubles and they like sneakers.

This month, Trump unveiled his “Never Surrender” red, blue, and gold high tops that sold for $399. With only 1,000 pairs available, they sold out within hours.

USA Today reported that Raymond Arroyo, a Fox News commentator, said, “This is (the shoes) connecting with Black America. Because they’re into sneakers. They love sneakers. This is a big deal. Certainly in the inner city.” Arroyo predicted that Black voters would leave Democrats based on a pair of shoes.

Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, mocked the shoes in remarks he made on MSNBC, which was reported by HuffPost.

“Seriously? Why didn’t I think of this when I ran the RNC?” he wondered. “Let’s see. Black folks love sneakers. And we can paint them gold. This can’t miss. Trust me. It’s a big miss. And they’re ugly as hell,” HuffPost reported.

Arroyo’s remarks came before Trump claimed that he’s getting more Black voters because they can identify with his legal troubles and see him as a victim of discrimination.

“I got indicted for nothing, for something that is nothing,” the Associated Press reported Trump saying at an event for Black conservatives in South Carolina. “And a lot of people said that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing but possibly, maybe, there’s something there.”

One recent poll shows that Trump is receiving the same support from Black voters now as he did in 2020.

But if Trump makes more headway, he would have you believe, “Money, It’s Gotta be the Shoes,” the phrase Spike Lee, as Mars Blackmon, used during the 1991 Nike commercial with Michael Jordan.

The Trump shoes are the latest in a long line of racial tropes from the former president. He once expressed surprise that there are Black people who aren’t on welfare, used the phrase, “Stop the Riggers” when discussing his false claims that he won the 2020 election, and told four Black and brown lawmakers they should “go back” to their countries, even though three of them were born in the U.S.

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