President Donald Trump has made a series of remarks in recent weeks designed to appeal to the “suburban housewives of America.” But if one network-assembled voter focus group is any indication, the president’s comments could be backfiring.
On Tuesday, MSNBC presented a panel comprised of four women who live in the Columbus, OH suburb of Dublin. Two of the women identified as Democrats, two said they are Republicans. The group discussed Trump’s remarks — in which he said, among other things, “[Joe] Biden will destroy your neighborhood and your American Dream. I will preserve it, and make it even better.”
While one of the women in the focus group said she is considering voting for Trump in the fall, all four condemned the president’s remarks.
“I’m in the suburbs, and I also have children, and I’m not voting for Donald Trump — because when he is saying that, he is speaking to a certain base, which he’s obviously not including me in that base,” said Tara Seward, a Black woman on the panel.
“You think it’s racist?” MSNBC correspondent Chris Jansing asked.
“Yes, it is,” Seward said. “There’s no other way around that. But it’s basically saying ‘black people will invade your neighborhoods.'”
“I will never stand by and support what he says,” added Sara Backiewicz — a Republican
Jansing quoted Trump saying “the invasion of neighborhoods will undermine safety for the suburban housewife.”
“That’s completely racist,” said panelist Lisa Borkowski-Ludwig. “What I feel scared of is more the rise of white nationalism and people having guns, who shouldn’t have guns, who aren’t trained.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.