Trump: Black communities are 'absolutely in the worst shape they've ever been in'

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Despite slavery, lynchings, sitting on the back of the bus, and a litany of other historical injustices, Donald Trump argued Tuesday that today, "our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape that they've ever been in before. Ever. Ever. Ever."

Trump, talking to a mostly white crowd in Kenansville, North Carolina, said he will "rebuild our inner cities," because now, "you get no education, you get no jobs, you get shot walking down the street. They're worse — I mean, honestly, places like Afghanistan are safer than some of our inner cities." Trump did not mention, CNN notes, the widely reported shooting in Tulsa last weekend in which Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man, was killed by police outside his stalled SUV.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.