What did Donald Trump do today?
He imagined a poll showing that he wasn't deeply unpopular with African-Americans.
This morning, Trump claimed that a "New Fox Poll" showed he had "40% Approval Rating by African Americans."
In reality, recent polls put Trump's approval rating among African-Americans at about 17%. His overall approval rating ranks 11th out of the last 12 presidents for this point in his term.
Why should I care about this?
- Even when it's obvious, it's still wrong for presidents to lie.
- A president who wanted to actually improve his approval rating among African-Americans could not call black Americans thieves, or assume that Kanye West speaks for them all, or call them stupid in private, or call them stupid in public, or assume that they had "nothing to lose" after eight years of an African-American president.