Trump Pauses Pitch To Black Voters To Attack ‘Low Energy’ Clinton

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump meets with faith and community leaders before delivering a speech, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
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Donald Trump meandered through a policy speech aimed at African American voters on Wednesday, when he found himself at times swerving to take digs at Hillary Clinton’s “low energy” and revel in the success of his latest campaign theme, “Drain the Swamp.”

Much of the speech consisted of Trump’s most frequent stump speech points, re-tooled for a black audience. He called illegal immigration “one of the greatest betrayals” against the African American community and promised to “make it easier for young African-Americans to get credit to pursue their dreams in business” in the face of Dodd-Frank regulations, which he called a “disaster.” Trump also said what he called Clinton’s “war on police” put African American lives at risk.

There were also novel proposals, like the suggestion that welfare workers be allowed “to convert poverty assistance into repayable but forgive-able micro-loans.”

Through it all, though, Trump took opportunities to stray from his pitch and comment on the election. He rebutted criticism of his attending the grand opening of his new hotel in Washington, D.C., saying Clinton rarely held rallies and slamming the Democratic nominee as having “less energy than Jeb Bush,” a frequent target of his during the Republican primaries.

He appeared most energized when the crowd started chanting his latest campaign slogan: “Drain the swamp!”

“You know, I said that about about a week ago and I didn’t like it that much, didn’t sound that great,” he said, pumping his fist at the crowd. “The whole world picked it up. So it shows you what I know.”

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