Decades of
industrial decline are prompting white, working-class Democrats to
reassess their political loyalties, and now many plan to vote for
Donald Trump. In the first in a series of election videos, Paul Lewis
and Tom Silverstone discover the racial consequences of a divisive
election
A Trump campaign
chair in Ohio says there was ‘no racism’ before Obama
Trump
campaign chair in Ohio resigns over ‘no racism before Obama'
remarks
Kathy
Miller, chair in a crucial Ohio county, resigned after the Guardian
released video of her saying, ‘It’s their own fault’ if black
people haven’t succeeded
Paul Lewis and Tom
Silverstone
Thursday 22
September 2016 18.15 BST
Donald Trump’s
campaign chair in a crucial Ohio county has resigned after an
interview with the Guardian in which she said there was no racism in
America until the election of Barack Obama.
Ohio Trump campaign
chair Kathy Miller says there was 'no racism' before Obama
Read more
Kathy Miller, who
was coordinating the Republican nominee’s campaign in Mahoning
County, apologized for her “inappropriate” remarks on Thursday
and said she would no longer have a role with the campaign.
Her resignation came
just hours after the release of the first film in a series of
election videos, Anywhere but Washington.
The video included
an interview with Miller in which she said there was “no racism”
during the 1960s and claimed black people who have not succeeded over
the past half-century only have themselves to blame.
“If you’re black
and you haven’t been successful in the last 50 years, it’s your
own fault. You’ve had every opportunity, it was given to you,”
she said.
“You’ve had the
same schools everybody else went to. You had benefits to go to
college that white kids didn’t have. You had all the advantages and
didn’t take advantage of it. It’s not our fault, certainly.”
Miller added: “I
don’t think there was any racism until Obama got elected. We never
had problems like this … Now, with the people with the guns, and
shooting up neighborhoods, and not being responsible citizens, that’s
a big change, and I think that’s the philosophy that Obama has
perpetuated on America.”
Mark Munroe, the
Mahoning chair for the GOP, said he immediately contacted the Trump
campaign in Ohio asking for Miller to be dismissed over her “insane
comments”.
He told the Guardian
that Trump had undertaken impressive steps to appeal to minority
voters and that Miller’s remarks risked jeopardizing his standing
in Ohio. “We should not let those really inappropriate comments
affect the Trump campaign.”
Miller’s
resignation follows in the wake of months of commentary from Trump
about race that African American commentators have widely interpreted
as offensive.
During the primaries
Trump was condemned for initially failing to disavow support from a
former Ku Klux Klan leader and last month asked black voters “what
do you have to lose?” by supporting his bid for the White House.
On Tuesday, Trump
told supporters in North Carolina: “African American communities
are absolutely in the worst shape they’ve ever been in before.
Ever, ever ever.”
Mahoning, the
eastern Ohio county where Miller was coordinating Trump’s campaign,
is a historically Democratic stronghold that includes Youngstown, a
former steel city that has experienced decades of economic decline.
The county is
reputedly “ground zero” for disaffected white, working-class
Democrats who are drawn to Trump’s promise to boost manufacturing
by renegotiating international free-trade agreements.
Before the
primaries, some 6,000 Democrats in Mahoning switched party
affiliation to Republican, reportedly to vote for Trump.
As well as chairing
the campaign in Mahoning, a volunteer role, Miller was an official
Ohio elector to the electoral college for the Trump campaign. She
said in a statement that she had decided to resign from both
positions.
“My personal
comments were inappropriate, and I apologize. I am not a spokesperson
for the campaign and was not speaking on its behalf,” she said. “I
have resigned as the volunteer campaign chair in Mahoning County and
as an elector to the electoral college to avoid any unnecessary
distractions.”
Bob Paduchik, Ohio
state director for the Trump campaign, said he had replaced Miller
with another local campaigner. “Our county chairs are volunteers
who signed up to help organize grassroots outreach like door-knocking
and phone calls, they are not spokespeople for the campaign.”
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