Donald Trump defied the critics again Monday, gathering more than 100 black ministers for a Midtown meeting despite pressure to steer clear of the GOP presidential front-runner.
Some of the ministers endorsed Trump after the session in Trump Tower, which lasted a longer-than- expected 2¹/₂ hours.
“It went longer only because of the love. It didn’t go longer for other reasons,” Trump gushed, as about 20 ministers gathered around him at an impromptu press conference.
“There were unbelievable solutions, I think, to problems that we will solve that other people won’t be able to solve.”
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One recognizable face at the meeting was Omarosa Manigault, a former star on Trump’s show “Apprentice” and who is now an ordained minister in Los Angeles.
“Donald Trump is committed to the black community,” said Manigualt, a Democrat who worked for the Clinton White House.
Among critics cautioning the ministers not to embrace Trump was the Rev. Al Sharpton.
“They should have a real meeting or admit that they are just props in a Trump play or Trump presser or a Trump photo op,” Sharpton said Monday.Modal Trigger
Several ministers said serious issues were discussed, including education and employment.
And Trump said that, despite controversial remarks he has made during his campaign, no one asked him to dial down the rhetoric.
“The beautiful thing about the meeting is that they didn’t really ask me to change the tone,” Trump said, noting that’s what has catapulted him to the top in the GOP race.
However, some said they did tell Trump to change.
“We expressed to Mr. Trump, that in order to win people in our congregations . . . you’re going to have to change the rhetoric and tone down the things that you say that seem demeaning to people,” Bishop Orrin Pullings Sr. of Virginia told MSNBC.
The campaign didn’t say how many endorsements Trump picked up at the meeting.
And not everyone in attendance came away convinced.
Bishop George Bloomer of Durham, NC, said it’s too early to make a commitment.
“I came to the meeting because I was concerned about the racial slurs and so forth and I wanted to call him on it,” he said.
As for the Black Lives Matter protester getting tossed, Bloomer said, “I was satisfied with his response to that.
“He said there were 10,000 people there. He didn’t know if it was a Black Lives Matter person or a Who Lives Matter person.”
