President Donald J. Trump spoke at the Presidential Justice Forum at Benedict College on Friday, where he received an award from the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center for the First Step Act, prison reform legislation passed in 2018.
It was Trump’s first appearance at a historically Black college. But it wasn’t his first time publicly touting his relationship with HBCUs.
He previously took the step of moving the White House Initiative on HBCUs from the Department of Education to the White House when he took office, and he spoke at the White House Initiative on HBCUs conference in September, where he called his administration’s commitment to historically Black colleges “bigger and better” than any prior administration.
In his speech at Benedict College, Trump praised his administration for its financial support of HBCUs and for low unemployment rates for African-Americans, making multiple references to the 2020 election.
“When I’m up on the debate stage with one of these characters, whoever it may be, and I rattle off a couple of those stats, I don’t know how they’re going to beat me,” he said. “They’re going to have to be awfully good. They’re going to have to be awfully good.”
HBCUs seemingly have a role to play in Trump’s strategy for 2020, forcing them to navigate complicated relationships with his administration and their constituents.
“He has extremely low approval ratings from African-Americans,” said Dr. Melanye Price, an endowed professor of political science at Prairie View A&M University. “He has been basically lambasted by all the major civil rights groups. He is clearly not seen as a friend to Black people.”
