Ken Blackwell: What Voters Should Focus On Instead of Trump’s ‘Rhetoric’

Ken Blackwell, senior fellow at the Family Research Council and columnist, recently appeared on MSNBC to talk about the election.

The host cited a poll that shows people are “concerned” about what Donald Trump has said about women, blacks, Muslims, and illegal immigration. “Isn’t Trump’s rhetoric costing him votes?” the MSNBC host said.

In response, Mr. Blackwell said that Trump has started to engage with the voting groups important to his victory.

“His language is his. He is not going to change his language patterns just to fit in, so we ought to get over that.” Mr. Blackwell said he’s looking at Trump’s proposed policies. “He’s talking about growing the economy again, creating jobs. He’s talking about expanding school choice, not just to suburban whites but to inner-city blacks and Hispanics. He’s talking about moving from a growing dependency on government to empowering folks as families and as individuals. And I think that’s starting to resonate.”

Many Americans are tired of the status quo. It’s not working for them, and they want change.

MSNBC showed a clip of Trump saying America’s crime-ridden ghettos are worse than Afghanistan. Apparently this is an example of the rhetoric the host referred to, but what’s bad about it? Mr. Blackwell said there are cities and pockets in cities where life expectancy and incidence of violence are comparable to Afghanistan.

(Twenty-four-hour news channels have to fill up those hours, and one way to do that is to stoke controversy and focus on someone’s “rhetoric.”)

Trump speaks the way he speaks based on his own experiences, Mr. Blackwell said, just as Mr. Blackwell speaks based on his own experiences as a city councilman, a mayor, a secretary of state, and a state treasurer.

Trump has provided opportunities for blacks, Hispanics, and women. Unlike his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump doesn’t just give lip service.

“I think you can actually look at measurable achievement in those policy areas and make the connection,” Mr. Blackwell said. “So I’m not going to try to be an English teacher or a linguist for Donald Trump. I want to know what his policies are and what those policies mean in terms of making America an opportunity society as opposed to an ever-growing welfare state.”

Watch the brief clip to hear what Mr. Blackwell had to say about blacks and the status quo.