*It appears as if all of Flint, Michigan saw right through Donald Trump’s visit Wednesday afternoon, the latest stop in his recent tour of predominantly-black cities in hopes of winning over African American voters.
He was cut off during a speech at a black church, a union chief at an anti-Trump press conference asked “Where the hell have you been?” and protesters gave a collective side eye to his tour of the city’s dormant water treatment plant — eight months after the state of emergency was declared over the city’s lead-tainted drinking water.
Trump was speaking to a crowd of about 70 people invited to hear him inside Bethel United Methodist Church when he tried to tie Flint’s long economic decline to trade deals supported by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
“Hillary failed with the economy just like she has failed on foreign policy – everything she touched didn’t work out. Nothing,” Trump said, according to the Detroit News.
The church’s pastor, Rev. Faith Green Timmons, interrupted Trump while he was standing on a stage in the church’s fellowship hall.
“Mr. Trump I invited you here … not to give a political speech,” Timmons said.
“Oh, OK,” Trump replied. “That’s good.”
Trump moved on to Flint’s water crisis and predicted the city will recover. A few of the people in attendance interrupted Trump until Timmons told them to “respect him” as “guests of my church.”
“Thank you, pastor,” Trump said. “The damage can be corrected and corrected by people who know what they’re doing.”
Trump’s speech ends abruptly in Flint amid protesters inside church and pastor asking him not to make a political speech.
— Kathy Gray (@michpoligal) September 14, 2016
Timmons initially welcomed Trump’s visit as part of the church’s policy of welcoming “all people.”
“Trump’s presence at Bethel United Method in no way represents an endorsement of his candidacy,” Rev. Timmons said in a statement. “What we pray is that it conveys a final example of a faithful, intelligent, historically African-American congregation at work, serving and volunteering among the people of Flint as we work through this crisis of national impact. We cannot let this story drift from national attention for any reason.”
The view for the media that the @realDonaldTrump campaign won’t let inside church. pic.twitter.com/3xtyJdO7SU
— Kathy Gray (@michpoligal) September 14, 2016
As Trump’s plane was landing in Flint, Ron Bieber, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO, was among several dozen Democrats and liberal activists who held an anti-Trump press conference at the Flint water plant to question the GOP candidate’s sincerity in visiting Flint.
“Less than 60 days before the election and now Donald Trump rolls into town for a photo op. Give me a break. Where the hell have you been?” asked Bieber.
Ron bieber, pres of mich afl cio has a message for @realDonaldTrump: where the hell have you been? pic.twitter.com/2XeebFX4y7
— Kathy Gray (@michpoligal) September 14, 2016
“I’m here to call on Donald Trump to stop using the Flint water crisis as a prop for his campaign. Not once since the beginning of his campaign has Trump addressed the crisis, despite ample opportunity,” said Desiree Duell, a Flint mother and activist with the group Flint Rising. “We have been denied clean, safe water for more than two years and we want Donald Trump to know that we need a real solution to this crisis, not empty rhetoric or more of the same ‘run government like a business’ mentality that led to this crisis in the first place.”
View tweets, pics and video of Trump’s Flint visit below, from the Detroit News’ Chad Livengood:
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