Donald Trump has hosted an event at the White House to honour Black History Month.
He is known for quite a divergent style of rhetoric, and he proved this once again in his opening address.
Proud to honor the start of Black History Month at the @WhiteHouse this morning with @VP Mike Pence. pic.twitter.com/CaXOykzR4d
— President Trump (@POTUS) February 1, 2017
First, the US President started off with a little bit of self-congratulation, saying: “The election, it came out really well. Next time we’ll triple the number or quadruple it.”
He also used the speech to push one of his favourite themes: the media.
Trump said he doesn’t watch CNN: “I don’t like watching fake news. But Fox has treated me very nice. Wherever Fox is, thank you.”
Nor was this an isolated jab, as he continually had a bone to pick with the media during his speech.
When discussing black history, Trump cited Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks. But many people were struck by how he didn’t go into any more detail, merely naming the influential figures.
@ddale8 so there were approximately three sentences that had to do with black history ???
— Amy the creAtor (@AmyHouckCEO) February 2, 2017
@ddale8 he basically just named all of the black people he knows. This is insane.
— Alicia Marsig (@twnkltoez0) February 1, 2017
@ddale8 this is a disgrace. He couldn't go into detail about any African American icon because he doesn't know a thing about them!
— yngNrekles (@jenn0930) February 1, 2017
Others were struck by how rambling the speech was, thinking there was a distinct lack of focus.
An example of this was when he said: “If you remember, I wasn’t going to do well with the African-American community, and after they heard me speaking and talking about the inner city and lots of other things, we ended up getting – and I won’t go into details – but we ended up getting substantially more than other candidates who had run in the past years.”
@ddale8 WTF? Doesn't this man have ANYONE capable of writing a few coherent sentences for him that aren't about HIM?
— Maria Langer ? (@mlanger) February 1, 2017
@ddale8 reading Trump's #BlackHistoryMonth speech pic.twitter.com/FuEI5kAllk
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) February 1, 2017
@ddale8 pic.twitter.com/Sk2HyMObma
— Ludi Price 柏詠璇 (@LudiPrice) February 1, 2017
For many, it was just quite baffling as an address.
This defies comment https://t.co/TDy2i0DLqU
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) February 1, 2017
This is…this is… https://t.co/p0Jv4CBa0q
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 1, 2017
Some were concerned by the people present at the event – and perhaps more notably who wasn’t there.
Unless I'm mistaken, everyone sitting at this table w Trump either works for him, campaigned for him, or voted for for him
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) February 1, 2017
Highest-ranking elected African American @Clyburn tells CNN that President Trump didn't invite him to today's meeting with black leaders.
— Marshall Cohen (@Marshall_Cohen) February 1, 2017
At the end of the day, most just weren’t convinced by Trump’s efforts for Black History Month, thinking that he could be doing more.
If Trump really wants to honor #BlackHistoryMonth, he can apologize to President Obama and the Central Park Five. Photo ops are meaningless. https://t.co/bTaSkl0EpW
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 1, 2017
President Trump: if you truly want to honor #BlackHistoryMonth, you should start by apologizing to civil rights hero @repjohnlewis.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) February 1, 2017
It’s also poignant to compare this with his predecessor.
“We honor those who walked so we could run. We must run so our children soar. And we will not grow weary.” — @BarackObama #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/R7Ns171off
— The Obama Foundation (@ObamaFoundation) February 1, 2017
While the reception of Trump’s speech wasn’t overwhelmingly positive, he did take the opportunity to pay tribute to Black History Month, saying: “I’m proud to honour this heritage and will be honouring it more and more.”
