A group of black clergymen met with Donald Trump in New York earlier this week. There had been a lot of drama leading up to the event, with people wondering whether this was an endorsement for Trump, or just a meeting to discuss issues in the black community. Though no one went into detail about what was discussed, a group of 100+ black people surrounded Trump as he described the 2 1/2 hour meeting as “amazing,” saying that he and the pastors discussed employment issues facing African-Americans. When asked about Black Lives Matter, Trump side-stepped saying, “Black lives are very important. White lives are very important. To me, all lives are very important.” He also mentioned that several endorsements came out of this meeting.
Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of the Empowerment Temple Church in Baltimore, was not here for the antics, however. He called the pastors at the meeting “Prostitutes for Trump” and urged them to not let the “black pulpit become a pole.”
“They are prostituting themselves and, in essence, the black church,” Rev. Bryant tells The Daily News. “It’s Andy Warhol’s daydream — it’s 15 minutes of fame. It gave them a chance to be on television, and in the newspaper, where otherwise, nobody would have ever known their names.”
Rev. Bryant says he refused to attend the meeting between Trump and the Pastors and has been very vocal as far as why he doesn’t endorse the Presidential candidate.
“I really felt that their contingency was really selling out their vote for nothing,” said Bryant, who briefly ran for Congress as a Democrat earlier this year before calling off the bid.
“We’ve heard nothing from (Trump) about bridging the gap of economic inequality, mass incarceration, public schools, trade with Africa and other issues important to the black community,” he said.
Watch the full Trump presser with the pastors below. What are your thoughts?
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