Bribery and contempt by another name
It was a week-and-a-half before Christmas 2019 and allies of President Donald Trump were as busy as church rats “making it rain” on residents of black Cleveland.
The stealth Trump rally organized by Trump loyalist Pastor Darrell Scott, CEO of the Urban Revitalization Coalition, was not taking place in a strip club, where “rainmaking” by throwing cash in the air is a more common occurrence, but it might as well have been.
The gathering attracted hundreds of people and had the veneer of black respectability politics. The theme was “Celebrating and Honoring Urban Impact Leaders.” Cleveland native Ja’Ron Smith, a deputy assistant to the president, and Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera were on hand to impart a little celebrity to what would soon devolve into a debasing spectacle.
It took place in the ballroom of the Galleria Building, but there was nothing elegant about the social media campaign leading up to the event: “Limited seating available; Must be present to redeem giveaway,” the Facebook ad said. This was followed by a hook at the center of the flyer: “$25,000 cash giveaway.” That’s how you get a full house in Cleveland during the hustle and bustle of the Christmas shopping season.
Instead of relying on black voter suppression techniques of previous election cycles, the Trump campaign has embarked on a new tactic — flooding targeted urban zones with just enough loose dollars to peel off some black votes that would’ve ordinarily gone to Democrats in crucial battleground states.
According to a story this week in Politico and a video posted by cleveland.com, after selecting ticket stubs at random from a container, event handlers called a stream of delighted people to the stage to receive envelopes containing anywhere from $300 to $500 tax free.
All they had to do to qualify for the Republican version of reparations was sit through a program highlighting all the great things Donald Trump was doing for the African American community.
Though it must’ve been as aggravating as sitting through a mandatory timeshare presentation, the pain was likely mitigated by the possibility of taking home an envelope full of cash.
“Was it condescending or insulting for us to give you this money?” the master of ceremony asked the woman who bounded on stage to become the first to claim her $300. The pastor made her count the money so that she could confirm that it was all there.
The pastor then asked a second woman dressed as a Christmas elf what she was going to do with the $300 he handed her. “I’m going to spend it,” she said as the audience laughed. “Four more years of President Trump” she shouted with raised fist clutching her loot.
The video cleveland.com posted of the event was 35 minutes long and captured a steady stream of elated black folks running to the stage to get their money. The music the DJ played during the happy procession alternated between Atlanta-style Trap music and the theme song for “The Price is Right.” There was no traditional holiday music despite the proximity to Christmas. It didn’t take long to go through $25,000.
The preachers who operate as Mr. Trump’s ward bosses and representatives in the black community worked hard to stay within the boundaries of their organization’s tax-exempt status. Still, it’s hard to explain to the IRS how giving envelopes full of money to people chosen at random without demonstrating a charitable or educational element fulfills the expectations of its 501(c)3 status.
In terms of pure optics, there’s something manifestly offensive about making black people who are probably registered Democrats, if they’re registered to vote at all, sit through an entire awards ceremony sprinkled with pro-Trump propaganda and speakers.
Those folks couldn’t care less about Donald Trump. They were hoping against the odds that their raffle number got called before the evening was over. Chances are, they’ll take the money given the opportunity and vote their conscience and their interests on Election Day, anyway.
When WAMs (walking around money/get out the vote money) were seen as an exclusively Democratic tactic employed in places like inner-city Philly, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles and Newark, N.J., conservatives would complain bitterly about the corrupting effect of paying ward leaders and community influencers to “get out the vote” by enticing poor and economically challenged people to the polls with the promise of “a couple of dollars” after casting their ballots.
Barack Obama made a point of ordering his 2008 presidential campaign to avoid handing out “street money” during the 2008 general election because he had seen its worst practices while running for office in Illinois. Maybe the fact that Mr. Obama rejected it made it an irresistible shiny object for Mr. Trump’s urban minions.
For its part, the Trump campaign appreciates the work of the Urban Revitalization Coalition and the equally sketchy National Diversity Coalition for Trump, but the campaign denies any role in flooding the streets with WAM or condoning money giveaways of any kind in the ‘hood. That’s not exactly their brand or what they’re known for.
A $30,000 cash giveaway was scheduled to be held at Virginia Union University, a historically black college on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, but the school had second thoughts once it realized that having a stealth rally for Mr. Trump and “making it rain” for black people desperate for tax-free loot was not a good look for the institution.
Oddly enough, the Virginia Union University cash giveaway was also going to double as a salute to “civil rights stalwarts” Donald Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, ostensibly for their work on criminal justice reform.
There is no doubt that the system that condoned WAMs when it was mostly a tool of the Democrats corrupted democracy by paying people to do what should’ve been a sacred, civic duty. Thousands of blacks lost their lives and freedom to secure the right to vote over generations.
Mr. Trump’s allies have repackaged the old game by freely admitting that it is a “cash giveaway” without acknowledging its problematic roots. Regardless of what they call it, it has nothing to do with the growth and cultivation of civic responsibility and duty. It is bribery, cynicism and contempt, pure and simple.