Add a new adviser, however short term, to Team Trump.
The Republican presidential nominee was just about at full-throttle into a trade speech at a church in former car-making hub Flint, Mich., Wednesday when the Methodist congregation’s pastor walked to the podium and cut him off. Donald Trump had begun attacking Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for supporting free trade agreements that Trump argued has cost troubled Flint its manufacturing base.
‘Mr. Trump, I invited you here to thank us for what we’ve done in Flint, not give a political speech.’
Rev. Faith Green Timmons of Flint, Michigan’s Bethel United Methodist Church
Rev. Faith Timmons had earlier stamped out anti-Trump protests, saying, “This public event is open to all and today Donald Trump came to observe. Trump’s presence at Bethel United Methodist in no way represents an endorsement of his candidacy.”
It was Trump’s first campaign visit to predominantly African-American Flint, home to a contaminated-water crisis. Trump earlier on Wednesday visited the city’s water plant. Trump had rarely addressed the crisis, including his take on the responsibility of Rick Snyder, the state’s Republican governor.
Trump, whose position has improved in select recent polls, has a history of offending some black Americans’ sensibilities, by among other things questioning President Obama’s birth certificate. He visited an African-American church in Detroit earlier in the month. Yet in this unconventional contest, Clinton’s presumed hold on the non-white vote has come under scrutiny, too.
This article was originally published on Marketwach.