Bill O’Reilly Makes Racist Comment and Trump Doesn’t React

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly told Donald Trump on Monday that “many” African-Americans aren’t qualified for the jobs that Trump is campaigning to bring back to the US.

During an interview with the Republican presidential frontrunner, O’Reilly pressed Trump about how he would win over voting groups who strongly oppose his candidacy. The Fox host then zeroed in on African-Americans.

Trump said he would win them over because “they’re going to have the jobs.”

“I’m telling you, it’s an economic message,” Trump said.

O’Reilly questioned how Trump would actually accomplish that aim.

“Many of them are ill-educated and have tattoos on their foreheads, and I hate to be generalized about it, but it’s true,” O’Reilly said. “If you look at all the educational statistics, how are you going to get jobs for people who aren’t qualified for jobs?”

Trump stayed on message, insisting that African-Americans would benefit from manufacturing jobs returning to the country under a President Trump.

“We’re going to bring jobs back,” Trump responded. “We’re going to have Apple computers made in this country.”

O’Reilly pushed back.

“But you have to have skills to make Apple computers,” he said.

“We will get the skills and develop the skills,” Trump said.

O’Reilly continued to push his point that some African-Americans were unqualified for the jobs Trump wanted to bring back.

“It’s more challenging for a poor child in Harlem without parental guidance in a school that’s falling apart than it is for some white kid out in Garden City,” he said. “You say you can bring jobs back, but if the kid isn’t qualified to do the job and can’t do the work — I mean — you’ve got to get into the infrastructure of the African-American community.”

Trump replied: “Well it is true. It’s about education, but it’s also about spirit.”

(h/t Business Insider)

Reality

The problem here is not so much what Trump said but what he didn’t say. It should come to no surprise that Bill O’Reilly would use racist slurs and stereotypes to frame loaded questions. What is surprising is a candidate for the President of the United States of America not reacting at all or even distancing themselves from such statements.

As a leading politician there are better ways to handle racist questions.

Media