“Greetings from my job as a black man”: Democrats hit back after Trump’s statement in the debate

“What exactly are the jobs for blacks and Hispanics?!” the NAACP asked on X.

Trump was responding to a question from CNN anchor Dana Bash about black voters. He began his answer by claiming that President Biden has caused inflation that is “killing black families and Hispanic families and pretty much everybody.”

He then said Biden’s “great murder of the black population” was illegal immigration.

“They’re taking jobs away from black people now — and it could be 18, 19, even 20 million people. They’re taking jobs away from black people, and they’re taking jobs away from Hispanics, and you haven’t seen it yet, but you’re going to see something that’s going to be the worst in our history,” Trump said.

Many interpreted this comment to mean that the jobs most commonly held by immigrants living illegally in the United States, including farm labor, were “black jobs.”

A spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign team did not respond to a request for clarification.

Senator Marco Rubio (Republican of Florida) defended Trump in an interview on On CBS’s “Face the Nation” he was asked: “What are the jobs of black people?”

“You know what he meant by that,” Rubio replied to correspondent Margaret Brennan. “He meant jobs that are held in America by African-Americans and others, Americans in general.”

He later added: “When you flood a country with millions of people, there is going to be more competition for jobs. And those workers are willing to work for a lower wage. You see that in some sectors like construction and skilled trades, it also affects the Hispanic community.”

Black voters are the Democrats’ most loyal constituency, but polls show that support for Biden among those voters has waned in swing states like Georgia. Republicans are trying to win back some of those voters with new campaigns.

Economic data shows that black workers are doing exceptionally well: the unemployment rate among blacks remains near historic lows and wage growth is at an all-time high.

Black doctors, lawyers, university professors and others posted photos of themselves at work with the hashtag #BlackJobs.

Virginia State Representative Joshua G. Cole walked around the Capitol and asked black colleagues for a TikTok video, “What are you doing?” They all responded, “I’m just doing my job as a black person.”

Cole said Trump was “spreading race hatred and panic.”

“I think he also wanted to point out that nobody wants to do the jobs that black people do,” Cole said.

Florida State Rep. Ashley Gantt shared several posts from people mocking Trump’s comment, asking, “Jobs for black people?” In her view, he clearly meant “subservient jobs.”

“When you look at the reality of these brave people who immigrate to this country from terrible circumstances and get jobs, even if it’s black, what kind of jobs are those?” Gantt said. “He’s saying directly that black people should be relegated to those jobs, and that’s it.”

Many people posted a photo of former President Barack Obama under the hashtag #BlackJobs.

“This is a way of showing how ignorant you are about black people,” Gantt said of the memes targeting Trump’s comments. “A black man holds the highest office in the land, which is the office that this convicted felon is running for. So this is a black job.”