Donald Trump tried to jump on the diversity bandwagon during his 2020 re-election bid. But the leaders of his DEI initiative received nothing but trouble as thanks for their work. Here is what went down.
Black Voices for Trump
Facing a stiff challenge from Democratic candidate Joe Biden in 2020, as well as the fallout from a global pandemic and several race-related time bombs, Donald Trump jumped on a trend.
As the 2020 election approached, Trump turned to his supporter base to help come up with a way to try and woo minority voters.
So in 2019, the Trump campaign itself launched Black Voices for Trump, aimed at winning the black vote.
And in Florida, Trump leaned on Hispanic supporters for what at least appeared to me more of a grassroots effort to drum up more minority votes. Latinos for Trump was born in June of 2019.
Trump and MAGA Give DEI a Try
With some structure forming around these new organizations, Trump turned his efforts to making sure that he had the right types of faces and voices in place.
This was Donald Trump and MAGA learning diversity, equity, and inclusion (or DEI) on the fly. The long-term results have been disastrous.
By July of 2020, Harrison Floyd was the executive director of Black Voices for Trump. He was faced with the impossible task of making Trump look like a hero to black voters in the wake of police officers killing George Floyd.
Harrison Floyd held the MAGA company line all through the election, though. And once the votes were all in, Floyd went a step further.
‘ The Donald’ – Savior of the Proud Boys
In January 2021, Floyd was one of the Trump thugs who met with Georgia ballot worker Ruby Freeman and tried to pressure her into lying about election fraud.
That move eventually led to charges against Floyd in Georgia and the distinction of being the only one charged in that case to spend time in jail before a trial.
In the meantime, Latinos for Trump got rolling largely under the guidance of Enrique Tarrio, who became the organization’s Florida state director.
And then, Tarrio became one of the most notorious of all Trump supporters in his role as chairman of the Proud Boys neo-fascist group that adopted The Donald as their savior.
Over Twenty Years in Jail
As the leader of the Proud Boys, Tarrio was instrumental in putting together the insurrection that led to thousands of frothed Trump supporters storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
For his part, Tarrio was ultimately convicted of seditious conspiracy and obstructing congressional procedures. Those crimes landed him a 22-year prison sentence.
While Tarrio starts chewing on what the rest of his life might look like, Floyd is also staring at a potential sentence of 20-plus years if he’s convicted of violating Georgia’s RICO Act. That one’s aimed at fighting organized crime.
Fighting His Own Battles
Meanwhile, of course, Donald Trump has his own legal battles to fight. But the Teflon Don is also focused on the next presidential election.
Tarrio and Floyd are left watching from the prison sidelines, trying to pull Trump’s DEI dagger out of their backs as he dusts off and moves on.
With the faces of his DEI movement in a spiral of disgrace, will Trump try something new to boost his image with minority voters?
Only time will tell, but anyone he taps on the shoulder to help with that task might want to think about running the other way before it’s too late.
The post “Black Voices for Trump” – Is He Kidding Himself? MAGA’s Attempt at “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” End in Jail Time first appeared on The Net Worth Of.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Michael Candelori