A group of mostly black pastors visited Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, August 1.
#Trump meeting with these pastors on prison reform. #cjr
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pic.twitter.com/04VwoCbEpY— Lauren Victoria (@LVBurke) August 1, 2018
If you’re not in the mood to parse through a bunch of empty rhetoric and back-patting, here’s a rundown of the most important takeaways from the meeting.
1. Prison reform was a topic of discussion.
According to a transcript posted on the White House’s website, prison reform was a hot topic during the meeting. Trump claimed he wanted to make sure prisoners can get jobs after they are released “so they don’t have to return to a life of crime and go back into the same prison where they just got out.”
He also claimed some of his friends have hired former offenders and are reaping the benefits.
“They’re doing it. I have one man, a friend of mine, he’s now up to number 10. And I don’t say he loved all 10, but he liked seven of them a lot,” he said. “In fact, said six of them are better than anybody else he has. I don’t think that’s a bad percentage. Right? And he’s a fan. And a lot of people are becoming fans.”
2. One pastor said Trump was “pro-black” and threw shade at President Obama.
Pastor Darrell Scott declared Trump to be “the most pro-black president that we’ve had in our lifetime.” Scott, who encouraged Trump to run for office, lauded him for his supposed dedication to proving himself “to our community, our faith-based community and our ethnic community.”
Scott also claimed Obama felt like he had nothing to prove.
“The last president didn’t feel like he had to. He felt like he didn’t have to prove it. He got a pass. This president is — this administration is probably going to be more proactive regarding urban revitalization and prison reform than any president in your lifetime” he added.
3. A Latino pastor was there reppin’ his community but made no mention of immigration.
Pastor Benny Perez mentioned his ethnicity as he introduced himself, but he didn’t mention immigration at all. Instead, he bragged about unemployment rates and expressed interest in partnering with the Trump administration.
“Being a Hispanic leader, to see what is happening in the Hispanic community, it is the largest, as you know, ethnic community in America,” Perez said. “And to have the lowest unemployment rate and to see my family members and my community being really empowered to live a life and not just dream, but actually see the dream become a reality.”
4. Trump bragged about unemployment rates, again.
Trump went down a laundry list of marginalized identities and bragged about getting them jobs.
“We’ve increased and created 3.7 million more jobs since Election Day,” he said. “African American and Hispanic unemployment rates have reached the lowest levels in recorded history, meaning history — the lowest levels ever. African American and Hispanic. Asian also. Women also — 66 years.”
This isn’t the first time he’s made these claims, and as Bustle pointed out, it’s misleading.
5. It was a kumbaya session in which they invoked Dr. Martin Luther King.
Outside of talking points like unemployment and prison reform, the pastors were overwhelmingly fond of Trump. Dr. Alveda King, a niece of Dr. King, credited him with the reopening of steel mills in Alabama. She also bragged that Bill Owens, founder and president of the Coalition of African American Pastors, marched with her uncle, although there is speculation that he might be exaggerating his involvement with the civil rights movement.
Pastor John Gray even quoted Dr. King during the prayer that started the meeting.
“Dr. King said we cannot influence a table that we are not seated at. And so we pray that this conversation will be fruitful, and productive and honoring of the best traditions of this nation,” he said.
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