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President-elect Donald Trump has yet to add any Black individuals to his administration so far, despite recruiting Black Republicans to campaign for him and promising to bring back ‘Black jobs.’
Figures like Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), John James (R-Mich.), and Burgess Owens (R-Utah) campaigned for Trump, participating in events aimed at courting Black voters.
“I am not surprised that I have not been named,” Rep. Donalds told CNN. “But that does not mean I’m not going to do other things in the future.”
Noting the absence of Black leaders in Trump’s cabinet, critics are calling it a failure to reflect campaign promises to prioritize ‘Black jobs.’
“Donald Trump campaigned around the country that he will help Black people, [told] Black people, ‘What do we have to lose?’ and that he will create Black jobs,” Jamarr Brown, executive director of Color of Change PAC told theGrio. “We’re still wondering where the jobs are.”
Many of Trump’s appointments, including figures like Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth, have faced significant controversy, leading some to suggest that Trump values loyalty above other considerations like experience or diversity.
“There’s no diversity of representation, and that is by design,” Brown said. “But also, the people that look like us, who would be considered for those roles, would not have been helping us.”
On the campaign trail, Trump proposed that the Black community stood to benefit from his border control policies.
“Coming from the border are millions and millions of people who happen to be taking Black jobs,” Trump said at a gathering of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. “They’re taking the employment from Black people.”
Reecie Colbert, host of The Reecie Colbert Show, argued that Trump’s outreach to Black voters was “never a courtship” but rather a tactic to reduce Black support for Democrats.
“There’s nothing that Black men are getting from a Trump administration,” Colbert told theGrio. “Aside from things that are detrimental to the well-being of Black men and the Black community.”
Originally published by Latin Times.