Trump met with protest, support at SC historically black college
Supporters greeted him at the airport and at the entrance of the Benedict College. Opponents shouted jeers in the street as they marched toward campus. Some students joined in the protest including through dorm room windows.
The scene inside the Benedict College auditorium, where President Donald Trump made a nationally televised speech Friday that veered back and forth between him touting criminal justice reforms he signed into law and his presidential campaign stump points, had undertones of similar tensions, though far more subdued.
For example, Trump’s audience at the historically black college in Columbia included only seven students from the school, a Benedict spokesperson confirmed. Missing were some of the original co-hosts of the event, who decided to sit out after learning of Trump’s participation.
Trump came to Benedict, a historically black college in the heart of South Carolina, on Friday to tout the legacy of black colleges and showcase, quite literally, why his administration plans to keep criminal justice reform a political priority.
Trump spoke about devoting more resources toward “American communities,” telling a packed and diverse audience — which mostly included lawmakers and supporters of Trump and his administration — inside the college’s performing arts center that “for decades, politicians of both parties, put their own interests ahead of your interests.”
And, he added, “put the interests of foreign nations ahead of the interest of our nation.”
Trump also shared the stage with three former federal inmates whom he invited to join him for the event. Each was sentenced to lengthy prison sentences for drug offenses and spoke of rehabilitating themselves inside.
“If it wasn’t for you, Mr. President, I would still be serving five years in prison,” said Tanesha Bannister, 45, of Columbia, whose reduced prison sentence expired after Trump signed legislation — First Step Act — last year that helped to release her five years ahead of schedule.
“I’m determined not to let my past define my future,” Bannister said.
On Friday, Trump received the Bipartisan Justice Award for his work on the First Step Act.
The president’s tone Friday was largely subdued, thankful, at times self deprecating, and appreciative of the host venue, Benedict College, whose President Dr. Roslyn Artis he called a “very dynamic president.”
But woven into his hour-long remarks, the president reverted to a more familiar style.
Trump took a jab at the Obama administration and his Democratic presidential opponents — 10 of whom came to Columbia for a forum on criminal justice reform Saturday and Sunday also organized by the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center and held also at Benedict College.
“Check out the last administration,” Trump said regarding federal funding spent on historic black colleges. “See what they did for you. Not too much. Not too much. ... Not much. I don’t want to get into this. I’ll get myself in trouble.”
He took a dig at CNN.
And he spoke critically about the U.S. House’s impeachment inquiry, comparing the probe to the criminal justice system.
“And I have my own experience, you know that, you see what’s going on with the witch hunt,” Trump said. “It’s a terrible thing that’s going on in our country. No crimes, and it’s an investigation in search of a crime. It’s been going on for longer than I’m in office.”
Trump’s remarks, the first for the president at an HBCU, were celebrated inside the venue, with some shouting, “four more years.”
“It’s my belief that President Trump delivered the best domestic policy speech of his presidency today as he talked about the impact criminal justice reform, combined with a strong economy, can have on America,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said in a statement.
Outside, the optics were different.
Protesters and supporters brought signs and chants to the streets around Benedict to show their opposition and support.
Other protests took place in other ways.
Leaders of the National Black Police Association — one of several co-hosts of the week’s events — said they were blindsided by Trump’s visit and were so opposed they ultimately decided not to attend Trump’s speech in person.
“Just this week, our president used racially charged language to describe impeachment,” chairwoman Sonia Pruitt told McClatchy DC in a phone interview shortly after Trump had concluded his speech. “To just so freely use the word ‘lynching’ and then come to speak at a historically black college and university and claim to support criminal justice reform — well, we have some questions about that.”
Trump drew outrage this week after he compared the impeachment inquiry targeting him to lynching in a tweet, just days ahead of his scheduled visit to Benedict College.
Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California— a past recipient of the Bipartisan Justice Award — announced late Friday she was pulling out of the weekend forum. One of 10 Democratic presidential hopefuls in town for the forum, Harris’ campaign said she would instead host a criminal justice roundtable with students on Saturday.
“As the only candidate who attended an HBCU, I know the importance that these spaces hold for young black Americans,” Harris said in a statement. “I cannot in good faith be complicit in papering over his record.”
Students, particularly from Benedict and its neighboring HBCU, Allen University, were critical of the president’s visit, accusing the president of using their college as a prop and criticizing him for not meeting with students.
“I might like something you say, but if you’re not willing to talk to people, how can I find out?” said Perry Bradley with Building Better Communities, one of the protest’s organizers.
Friday’s forum was an official White House event and was invite only. Students from the school were conspicuously absent.
Though nine Benedict students were confirmed to attend, only seven were inside because two had ROTC training at the same time, said college spokeswoman Kymm Hunter.
Despite that, Trump told the audience he was “thrilled” to be on Benedict’s campus and celebrate “all that we have achieved together.”
“And the outstanding students who are joining us today,” Trump said. “You are outstanding.”
Emma Dumain and Emily Bohatch contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 26, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
