NBC News reporter Dasha Burns was taken by surprise by her interviews of Black and Latino supporters at former President Donald Trump's campaign rally in the Bronx on Thursday.
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The MSNBC reporter expressed her disbelief to host Ana Cabrera that immigrants would actually back Trump and his immigration policies.
"Well, this might sound a little counterintuitive, but I did talk to folks in that crowd who themselves were immigrants, a lot of folks from the Dominican Republic. A lot of the people that I talked to were born and raised in the Bronx. For some of them, this was their first-ever Trump event," she said.
"When you talk to immigrants going to these Trump rallies, they agree with his message on immigration," she continued. "Their point is, 'I did it the right way, I came here legally,' and especially those living in New York right now, the sentiment I heard from a lot of voters, was, you know, 'We have these immigrants right now that the city is taking care of in a way I've never felt taken care of by this city'."
"It was a large crowd and a diverse crowd," she added. "Yes, there were people from Westchester and New Jersey, but there were a lot of people there from the Bronx, black and Latino voters that are sick of how much they're paying for gas and groceries, that are frustrated with the situation at the border, and that find President Biden's rhetoric when it comes to minority voters a little bit offensive."
NBC then played a clip of her interaction with Trump supporters at the rally:
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) May 25, 2024
Here is a transcript of NBC's selected interviews:
BURNS: Legal troubles, does any of that worry you at all?
BRONX TRUMP RALLY ATTENDEE: No, I think he's going to be elected the president because everyone still wants him as the president so to me it doesn't matter.
BRONX TRUMP RALLY ATTENDEE: Biden has disrespected the people of the city of New York. This was the best city in the world. We're not the Great Apple anymore. We're not the Big Apple. We are the rotten apple.
BRONX TRUMP RALLY ATTENDEE: Biden went on Charlemagne Tha God's and said you ain't black if you don't vote for him. I'm black because that's how I was born and what I am, and Trump is the man that can save this country.
"A little bit offensive." Here is a walk down memory lane on Biden's racially inflammatory statements for Ms. Burns.
- In 2020, Biden infamously said to a mainly black audience that if they were unsure of whether to vote for him or Trump, then “you ain’t black!”
- In 2008, Biden said Mitt Romney was going to "unchain Wall Street," before adding, "They're going to put y'all back in chains."
- In 2007, he called Barack Obama “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean.”
- In 2006, he told an interviewer, “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.”
- In 1977, he remarked that forced busing to desegregate schools would cause his children to “grow up in a racial jungle.”
Ms. Burns then provided some "analysis" of her interaction with the Trump supporters.
She noted:
So interesting to talk to those voters, and multiple people actually mentioned that Charlamagne tha God interview. I did press back with some of those folks, mentioning some of Trump's rhetoric that's seen as racist and bigoted.
But the folks "said they don't have a problem with that. They view his actions over his words in terms of what they feel he can do for their community. Again, the economy, those pocketbook issues over and over again top of the list," she said.
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