Trump Ohio Campaign Chair Quits After Racist Comments [Video]
A volunteer chairperson for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Mahoning County, Ohio, resigned Thursday after comments she made in an interview with England’s The Guardian drew flack on social media and in the press for being considered racist, according to reports from The Huffington Post and NBC News.
“If you’re black and you haven’t been successful in the last 50 years, it’s your own fault. You’ve had every opportunity, it was given to you,” Kathy Miller told The Guardian. “You’ve had the same schools everybody else went to. You had benefits to go to college that white kids didn’t have. You had all the advantages and didn’t take advantage of it. It’s not our fault, certainly.”
Miller also referred to the Black Lives Matter movement as “a stupid waste of time,” as the country was reeling from more police shootings of African American citizens, and suggested that reports of lower turnout among African American voters in previous elections are attributable to “the way they’re raised.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, Miller topped it all off by blaming American’s ongoing racial tensions on the election of President Barack Obama.
“I don’t think there was any racism until Obama got elected. We never had problems like this… Now, with the people with the guns, and shooting up neighborhoods, and not being responsible citizens, that’s a big change, and I think that’s the philosophy that Obama has perpetuated on America.”
The comments grew sharp criticism on social media.
Deny racism exist then you’re not forced to confront it. “Trump campaign chair there was ‘no racism’ before Obama” https://t.co/JzmnMk40Zz
— Renee Obey, MD (@DrReneeObey) September 23, 2016
For anyone who thinks Kathy Miller’s remarks don’t step from deep-rooted racism, you’re probably racist: https://t.co/PsyE6SR1wO
— Jacob Payne (@cattleprod) September 22, 2016
Miller arguably made matters even worse when she attempted to downplay the racist implications of her initial comments in a subsequent interview with NBC.
“I’m thinking, ‘What did I say that was racist?'” Miller told NBC. “I didn’t murder anybody, I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t steal from anybody, I didn’t call them a liar — what did I say that was racist, other than you should take responsibility for yourself? But that’s not racism… I don’t know, maybe I’m clueless.”
As NBC points out, Miller also made reference to Obama allegedly starting a program to provide free cell phones and other benefits to low-income Americans, a rumor that is common in conservative circles but nevertheless false.
“It’s across the board, minorities aren’t the only ones,” Miller told NBC. “It’s not about race, this is about just people in general. It’s easier to not go to work, easier to stay at home, get my free phone, free rent and free utilities.”
The Trump campaign issued a statement Thursday saying it had accepted Miller’s resignation. The statement also referred to her comments as “inappropriate,” according to NBC.
Trump’s Ohio State Director, Bob Paduchik, said that campaign county chairpersons “are not spokespeople for the campaign,” according to NBC.
Ohio is a key battleground state in the presidential election, and polls have been tight there. Trump currently leads Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton by 1.8 points in Ohio, according to an aggregate of polls at Real Clear Politics.
The Guardian noted that no Republican in recent history has won the presidency without winning the state of Ohio, where nearly 13 percent of the population is African American. In other words, in all likelihood Trump will have to depend on a state where racist comments from one of his local campaign chairs are currently front and center in election coverage.
Miller’s racist comments could further diminish Trump’s support among African American and other minority voters, demographics his campaign is already struggling with.
[Featured image: Screengrab via The Guardian]
