REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Donald Trump has been criticised for claiming that the shooting dead of a woman in Chicago was a reason African Americans will vote for him.
Nykea Aldridge was killed during an exchange of gunfire between two men as she pushed a baby stroller carrying her 13-month-old child in Chicago.
Aldridge is the cousin of 12-time NBA all-star Dwyane Wade who tweeted about the tragedy.
During a speech yesterday, Trump continued to court the black vote and claimed that the shooting of Aldridge will make African Americans support him.
Trump also made appeals to black voters, promising to help African Americans find jobs.
“Every time an African American citizen, or any citizen, loses their job to an illegal immigrant, the rights of that American citizen have been totally violated,” he argued.
Trump’s comments on the shooting unleashed a torrent of criticism spearheaded by actor Don Cheadle, denouncing the bombastic billionaire for trying to score political points on the back of a murder.
“You don’t get to cherry pick. All the architects on left and right have failed that city. But Drumpf ain’t the ansr,” Cheadle tweeted later.
Cheadle lambasted the 2016 presidential election for being “like a Shakespearean farce except it could end in a mushroom cloud”.
Several hours after firing off his first tweet on Wade, Trump offered a more sombre and contrite message:
Illegal immigration
In his speech, Trump also linked illegal immigration and employment, pledging to start deporting offenders as soon as he is sworn in as president should he win the November vote.
“On Day One, I am going to begin swiftly removing criminal illegal immigrants from this country – including removing the hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal immigrants that have been released into US communities under the Obama-Clinton administration,” Trump told supporters in Des Moines, Iowa.
Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state during President Barack Obama’s first term in office. The next president will be sworn in on 20 January.
“I am going to build a great border wall, institute nationwide e-verify, stop illegal immigrants from accessing welfare and entitlements and develop an exit-entry tracking system to ensure those who overstay their visas are quickly removed,” Trump warned.
The billionaire real estate magnate and former reality TV host said:
If we don’t enforce visa expiration dates, then we have an open border. It’s as simple as that.
“A vote for Trump is a vote to have a nation of laws, a vote for Clinton is a vote for open borders,” he stressed.
Details of Trump’s immigration policies remain scant. He rallied much of his primary support with a controversial hardline tone against illegal immigrants and his plan to build a wall on the Mexican border.
Some of his advisors are now reportedly urging him to tone down his signature policy priority.
With reporting by © – AFP 2016
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