Why the man Trump once called 'my African American' is leaving the GOP
Gregory Cheadle, the black man President Donald Trump once described at a rally as my African American, is fed up.
After two years of frustration with the presidents rhetoric on race and the lack of diversity in the administration, Cheadle told PBS NewsHour he has decided to leave the Republican party and run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representative as an independent in 2020.
Now, the 62-year-old real estate broker, who supported the Republican approach to the economy, said he sees the party as pursuing a pro-white agenda and using black people like him as political pawns. The final straw for Cheadle came when he watched many Republicans defend Trumps tweets telling four congresswomen of color, who are all American citizens, to go back to their countries, as well as defend the presidents attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and his comments that Cummings hometown of Baltimore is infested.
President Trump is a rich guy who is mired in white privilege to the extreme, said Cheadle, of Redding, Calif., who switched from being an independent to a Republican in 2001. Republicans are too sheepish to call him out on anything and they are afraid of losing their positions and losing any power themselves.
Thursday afternoon, when asked by NewsHour on the White House lawn about Cheadle leaving the Republican party, President Trump said he believed he has a lot of support from African American voters.
We have tremendous African American support, Trump told NewsHour. I would say Im at my all-time high. I dont think Ive ever had the support that Ive had now. I think Im going to do very well with African Americans. African American support has been the best weve had, Trump claimed in the exchange.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/man-trump-once-called-my-african-american-leaves-republican-party?fbclid=IwAR3dlyAwKAD-x3o8dBq_JguxXZyYHMAd2VL6fAlUw80kkfnD10Bn35cHH94