Symone Sanders-Townsend didn’t let South Carolina’s GOP chair off the hook when he said he “wasn’t able to hear the audio” of Donald Trump’s address to Black conservatives after she asked him to comment.
“Mr. Chairman, I’m wondering, what is your reaction to the comments from former President Donald Trump last night at that conservative rally in South Carolina?” Sanders-Townsend asked Drew McKissick, who appeared on MSNBC’s The Weekend Saturday.
“Well, I wasn’t there, and wasn’t able to hear all the audio in what you’re talking about here just a minute ago,” McKissick said.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr. Chairman!” Sanders-Townsend exclaimed. “Let me play the clip for you! Can we play the clip of President Trump’s mashup? Let’s play it for you. So sorry. Hold on one second, we’ll play it.”
The tape revealed some questionable comments Trump made to the gathering of Black conservatives Friday night:
These lights are so bright in my eyes that I can’t see too many people out there. But I can only see the Black ones, I can’t see any white ones, you see? That’s how far I’ve come. That’s how far I’ve come.
“Your reaction, Sir?” Sanders-Townsend asked
McKissick answered:
Look, if at this point, everybody doesn’t know the way Donald Trump speaks and has spoken since he came on the scene in ’15, then they haven’t been in this country very long. Donald Trump is like a billionaire construction worker. I mean, that’s the way he talks. And if we haven’t gotten used to that yet, then they’re not going to.Simple fact, though, is, that you’ve got a room full of people there, as was pointed out a minute ago, who are conservatives. Those are Black conservatives who are engaged in our party, who support the president. They invited him to come be there, and I’m sure enjoyed having him there last night.And here we are today in South Carolina, where we have what has been — since 1980 — been the state that any Republican who’s going to win the White House has to win. And these people are engaged in Trump’s campaign. Actually, they’re very involved in it, on many levels. He’s got a large coalition of African-American supporters, Spanish-American supporters, you go through the list.
During the roundtable discussion, Sanders-Townsend called Trump’s comments “disgusting” and “offensive.”
She added, “I was gravely offended by the South Carolina party chair, the Republican Party chair, who said, ‘I mean, if you don&
Trump is predicted to sweep Saturday’s South Carolina Republican primary, leaving Gov. Nikki Haley’s (R-SC) campaign future in doubt.
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.