Democratic Georgia Rep. Vernon Jones recited a list of President Trump’s accomplishments for the black community during his Monday night speech at the Republican National Convention.
The Georgia lawmaker, who drew criticism from the left earlier this year for declaring his support for President Trump, used the theme “Donald Trump did that” as he went from issues like criminal justice reform to gains in black unemployment.
“When President Trump sought to earn the black vote, the Democratic Party leaders went crazy,” Jones began. “Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer literally started wearing kente cloths around the U.S. Capitol, as if pandering were enough to keep us satisfied. Let me tell you why I’m supporting our president.”
After recalling his own history of growing up in the South, Jones touted Trump’s funding of Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and support of school choice, then turned to the economy and criminal justice reform.
“The president also built the most inclusive economy ever with record low unemployment for African Americans and record high participation in the workforce,” he said. “He put opportunity zones in the Trump tax bill that would drive investment into our communities for decades to come. He put the interests of America workers and especially black workers first. That’s right, Donald Trump did that.”
“He delivered historic criminal justice reform,” Jones continued. “He ended once and for all the policy of incarceration of black people which has decimated our communities, caused by no other than Joe Biden. Democrats wouldn’t do it. Obama did not want to do it and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris definitely wouldn’t do it. But Donald Trump did it.”
Jones went on to discuss Trump’s support for “true, sincere police reform.”
“Education, jobs, safety, security, on issue after issue and in just a single term he destroyed these negative forces that have victimized the black community for decades,” said Jones. “He gave us the opportunity to rise.”
The Georgia lawmaker ended with describing how “all hell broke loose” when he announced his support for the president.
“I was threatened, called an embarrassment and asked to resign by my own party,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s consistent with the Democratic Party and how they view independent thinking black men and women. But I am here to tell you black voices are becoming more woke and louder than ever.”
“The Democratic Party has become infected with the pandemic of intolerance, bigotry, socialism, anti-law enforcement bias and a dangerous tolerance for people who attack others, destroy their property and terrorize our own community,” he concluded. “That’s what this election is all about. That’s why right now more than ever America needs Donald Trump in the Oval Office for another four years.”
