President Donald Trump continued his much-contested insistence that he’s done more for African Americans than any president other than Abraham Lincoln during a televised town hall event Thursday night, with one of his points of contention being that his administration kept many of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities from shuttering.
“I got them funded,” Trump said of HBCUs while participating in the hourlong town hall in Miami on NBC. “They were on a year-to-year basis. They could have been put out of business. As soon as our country had a little bad year, they would have said, ‘I’m sorry, we’re not going to fund you.’ I got them 10-year funding and financing. And more than they even asked for.”
Trump made the comments as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden simultaneously held a town hall-style event of his own in Philadelphia on ABC. Both candidates had been slated to appear in a second presidential debate Thursday evening, but it was canceled after Trump refused to agree to a virtual format in the wake of his positive coronavirus diagnosis.
Meanwhile, pressed by moderator Savannah Guthrie about his past remarks on white supremacy and to denounce all forms of white dominance, Trump contended that he already did so two days after the first presidential debate on Sept. 29, but he did so again Thursday.
“I denounce white supremacy,” he said. “And frankly, you want to know something? I denounce Antifa, and I denounce these people on the left that are burning down our cities, that are run by Democrats who don’t know what they’re doing.”
Trump, whose administration is currently trying to repeal protections aligned with the Affordable Care Act, also chided House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for the holdup regarding a new coronavirus stimulus package.
“The problem we have is Nancy Pelosi — she couldn’t care less about the worker,” said Trump, who repeatedly blamed China for the pandemic. “She couldn’t care less about our people. We should have a stimulus, I want a stimulus, the Republicans will approve a stimulus.”