From Pandering Callouts To Praise Of Trump, Here's What The Black People At The RNC Have To Say

Walker, a three-time All-American at the University of Georgia during the ‘80s, defended his relationship with the president and sided with Trump on athletes not protesting during the national anthem.

“Just because someone loves and respects the flag, our National Anthem, and our country doesn’t mean they don’t care about social justice. I care about all of those things, and so does Donald Trump,” Walker said. “He shows how much he cares about social justice and the Black community through his actions. And his actions speak louder than any stickers or slogans on a jersey.”

After his speech, Walker told Fox News that Trump's words are often misunderstood by the masses and people would connect better with him if they prioritized his actions. 

"I don't think people really know Donald Trump. I think they look at Donald Trump from a tweet or look at from what he says, and they're not looking at what he does," Walker said.

Walker said he built a close relationship with Trump when the president purchased the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League in 1984. The former pro athlete said player said it hurts him deeply when people accuse the president of being a bigot.

“People who think that don’t know what they are talking about. Growing up in the Deep South, I have seen racism up close. I know what it is. And it isn’t Donald Trump,” Walker said.

From the stage at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., Rep. Jones accused fellow Democrats of cultivating a “mental plantation” among Black voters and doubled down on his support of Trump’s campaign.

“The Democratic Party does not want Black people to leave their mental plantation,” Jones said. “We are free people with free minds.”

He also said Democrats have been pandering to the Black community, instead of implementing policy and law to advance their quality of life. He argued that, unlike Trump, Democrats want to defund the police and have been supporting violent protest behavior.

“The Democratic Party has become infected with the pandemic of intolerance, bigotry, socialism, anti-law enforcement bias and a dangerous tolerance for people who attack others, destroy property and terrorize our own communities,” he said.

Jones got his start in politics running for the state House in 1990, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution. In 2008, President Barack Obama called him out for appropriating his image on a campaign flyer Obama didn't approve.

"I do not endorse him; I have not endorsed him," Obama told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He put my picture on his literature without asking me."

Since then, Jones' career has been mired in controversy, and he recently made noise on both sides of the table for going against party allegiances in endorsing Trump.

Kim Klacik, a Republican candidate running for office in Maryland's 7th Congressional district, attacked Joe Biden and his party for their public relations gaffs in relation to the Black community.

“Joe Biden believes we can't think for ourselves, that the color of someone's skin dictates their political views," Klacik said in the segment streamed from Charlotte Monday. "We're not buying the lies anymore, you and your party have ignored us for too long."

She warned Black voters are growing frustrated with Democrats and "the days of blindly supporting" them are ending.

In May, Biden infamously The 2020 Republican National Convention kicked off on Monday with President Donald Trump aiming to galvanize support for his re-election campaign.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>After Democrats \u003Ca href=\"https://blavity.com/6-highlights-from-the-first-part-of-the-2020-democratic-national-convention\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">executed\u003C/a> a successful, virtual convention last week, Republicans have co-opted similar tactics. The Trump-focused RNC tapped Black speakers for endorsements and credibility, following the DNC’s programming that was intent on bringing diverse voices to speak on issues important to their voting block like police brutality and policy reform. \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>In a night highlighted by Sen. Tim Scott’s keynote address, former NFL running back Herschel Walker and Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Democrat, joined a contingent of Black influencers who gave remarks supporting Trump and his presidency.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Here is what Black Trump advocates said about him and his campaign at the RNC Monday:\u003C/p>\n",[22],{"id":23,"name":24,"slug":25,"description":9,"image":26},83,"News","news",null,[28,32,36,40,44],{"id":29,"name":30,"slug":31,"description":9,"image":9},5363,"Herschel-Walker","herschel-walker",{"id":33,"name":34,"slug":35,"description":9,"image":9},5361,"Kim-Klacik","kim-klacik",{"id":37,"name":38,"slug":39,"description":9,"image":9},5360,"Rep.-Vernon-Jones","rep-vernon-jones",{"id":41,"name":42,"slug":43,"description":9,"image":9},5362,"Republican-National-Convention","republican-national-convention",{"id":45,"name":46,"slug":47,"description":9,"image":9},28697,"Sen. Tim Scott","sen-tim-scott",{"url":49,"thumbnail":49,"credit":50,"title":9,"alt":9,"type":51,"width":26,"height":26},"https://res.cloudinary.com/blavity/image/upload/v1598384256/c8gg35ewuvjmrdlqlyaz","Getty Images","image","2020-08-25T15:08:24-04:00","2020-08-25 15:08:24","listicle",[56,59,62,65],{"title":57,"content":58},"Former NFL Star Defends Friendship With Trump, Says He's Not A Racist","\u003Cp>Walker, a three-time All-American at the University of Georgia during the ‘80s, defended his relationship with the president and sided with Trump on athletes not protesting during the national anthem.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>“Just because someone loves and respects the flag, our National Anthem, and our country doesn’t mean they don’t care about social justice. I care about all of those things, and so does Donald Trump,” Walker said. “He shows how much he cares about social justice and the Black community through his actions. And his actions speak louder than any stickers or slogans on a jersey.”\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan class=\"fr-video fr-draggable\" contenteditable=\"false\">\u003Ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/wLzg6iGhzVY\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/span>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>After his speech, Walker \u003Ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-rnc-herschel-walker-speech.amp\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">told \u003C/a>Fox News that Trump's words are often misunderstood by the masses and people would connect better with him if they prioritized his actions. \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>"I don't think people really know Donald Trump. I think they look at Donald Trump from a tweet or look at from what he says, and they're not looking at what he does," Walker said.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Walker said he built a close relationship with Trump when the president \u003Ca href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/14/trumps-ownership-of-usfls-new-jersey-generals-fueled-anthem-fight-with-nfl.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">purchased\u003C/a> the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League in 1984. The former pro athlete said player said it hurts him deeply when people accuse the president of being a bigot.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>“People who think that don’t know what they are talking about. Growing up in the Deep South, I have seen racism up close. I know what it is. And it isn’t Donald Trump,” Walker said.\u003C/p>\n",{"title":60,"content":61},"Rep. Jones Attacks Own Party For Pandering To Black People ","\u003Cp>From the stage at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., Rep. Jones accused fellow Democrats of cultivating a “mental plantation” among Black voters and doubled down on his support of Trump’s campaign.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>“The Democratic Party does not want Black people to leave their mental plantation,” Jones said. “We are free people with free minds.”\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan class=\"fr-video fr-draggable\" contenteditable=\"false\">\u003Ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/hj-QAUsi_kA\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/span> \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>He also said Democrats have been pandering to the Black community, instead of implementing policy and law to advance their quality of life. He argued that, unlike Trump, Democrats want to \u003Ca href=\"https://blavity.com/the-movement-to-defund-the-police-explained\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">defund the police\u003C/a> and have been supporting violent protest behavior.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>“The Democratic Party has become infected with the pandemic of intolerance, bigotry, socialism, anti-law enforcement bias and a dangerous tolerance for people who attack others, destroy property and terrorize our own communities,” he said.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Jones got his \u003Ca href=\"https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/all-about-vernon-jones/zSjWgmBugmCDjOwzJPEKbK/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">start \u003C/a>in politics running for the state House in 1990, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution. In 2008, President Barack Obama called him out for appropriating his image on a campaign flyer Obama didn't approve.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>"I do not endorse him; I have not endorsed him," Obama told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He put my picture on his literature without asking me."\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Since then, Jones' career has been mired in controversy, and he recently made noise on both sides of the table for going against party allegiances in endorsing Trump.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cdiv class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\" style=\"display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;\">\u003Ciframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 802px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=blavity&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1298072596156735489&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Feditor.blavity.com%2Feditpost%2F5f452968c77c89314e07bd1a&siteScreenName=blavity&theme=light&widgetsVersion=223fc1c4%3A1596143124634&width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1298072596156735489\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/div>\n",{"title":63,"content":64},"Black Republican Congressional Candidate Says Democrats Take Black Vote For Granted","\u003Cp>Kim Klacik, a Republican candidate \u003Ca href=\"https://kimkforcongress.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">running \u003C/a>for office in Maryland's 7th Congressional district, attacked Joe Biden and his party for their public relations gaffs in relation to the Black community.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>“Joe Biden believes we can't think for ourselves, that the color of someone's skin dictates their political views," Klacik said in the segment streamed from Charlotte Monday. "We're not buying the lies anymore, you and your party have ignored us for too long."\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan class=\"fr-video fr-draggable\" contenteditable=\"false\">\u003Ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/H4rYc3QcPX8\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/span>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>She warned Black voters are growing frustrated with Democrats and "the days of blindly supporting" them are ending.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>In May, Biden infamously \u003Ca href='http://\u003Ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/KOIFs_SryHI?start=1044\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\u003C/iframe>‘ rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>told \u003C/a>radio show host Charlamagne tha God that any Black person who is torn about which way they'll vote in the upcoming election "ain't Black."\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>"If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black," the Democratic nominee said. \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Hours later, Biden \u003Ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/22/joe-biden-breakfast-club-interview-274490\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">walked \u003C/a>back his comments and said his remarks were “much too cavalier” Politico reports.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Klacik is \u003Ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rnc-speaker-kim-klacik-republican-convention\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">running \u003C/a>again for the Maryland 7th District seat left vacant by the late Rep. Elijah Cummings after she lost the special election in April, according to Fox News.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Trump recently shared a short advertisement she commissioned called, “Black Lives Don’t Matter To Democrats.” In the short, she takes viewers through poverty stricken parts of Baltimore, condemning popular left-wing politicians that govern the city.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Democrats don’t want you to see this. \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>They’re scared that I’m exposing what life is like in Democrat run cities. \u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>That’s why I’m running for Congress \u003Cbr />Because All Black Lives Matter \u003Cbr />Baltimore Matters \u003Cbr />And black people don’t have to vote Democrat \u003Cbr />Help us win \u003Ca href=\"https://t.co/CSOjc9aQlS\">https://t.co/CSOjc9aQlS\u003C/a>\u003Cbr />\n\u003Ca href=\"https://t.co/XnEDTaDDIG\">pic.twitter.com/XnEDTaDDIG\u003C/a>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>— Kimberly Klacik (@kimKBaltimore) \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/kimKBaltimore/status/1295461903268040707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 17, 2020\u003C/a>\u003C/p>\u003C/blockquote>\n",{"title":66,"content":67},"Sen. Scott Says Trump's Criminal Justice Reform Is More Fair Than Biden's ","\u003Cp>\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: initial;\">Scott, the \u003C/span>\u003Ca href=\"https://blavity.com/tim-scott-the-only-black-republican-us-senator-explains-the-republicans-version-of-the-justice-in-policing-act?category1=politics\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: initial;\">lone\u003C/span>\u003C/a>\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: initial;\"> Black Republican senator, gave a personal account of how he rose from poverty to power in his keynote remarks. Scott also used his speaking slot to criticize Biden-backed policies affecting the Black community.\u003C/span>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>“Biden led the charge on a crime bill that put millions of Black Americans behind bars,” he said. “President Trump’s criminal justice reform law fixed many of the disparities Biden created and made our system more fair and just for all Americans.”\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan class=\"fr-video fr-draggable\" contenteditable=\"false\">\u003Ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/8w9ZwgHC78I\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\">\u003C/iframe>\u003C/span>\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Scott \u003Ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/2020/7/7/21311493/tim-scott-race-policing-justice-act-reform\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">headed \u003C/a>the effort to create his party’s police reform proposal after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. His plan was blocked by Senate Democrats who wanted more sweeping, widespread reform.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>On Monday, he said Democratic leaders “wanted the issue more than they wanted a solution.”\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The senator underscored his belief in “the goodness of America,” by describing his own childhood as a poor student who became the first Black person elected to both the House and Senate.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>“Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime,” Scott said. “And that’s why I believe the next American century can be better than the last.”\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The 54-year-old Scott praised Trump for building, “the most inclusive economy ever.” According to Scott, seven million jobs were created before the coronavirus outbreak with two thirds of going to women, Blacks and Latinx.\u003C/p>\n",true,3,{"disableConnatixPlayer":71},false,{"disableAd":71,"disableConnatixPlayer":71,"enabledComments":71,"headScript":26},{"reviewer_name":9},{"list":75,"total":177},[76,119,148],{"id":77,"author":78,"authors":85,"title":87,"subTitle":88,"excerpt":9,"slug":89,"body":90,"categories":91,"tags":96,"featuredMedia":101,"publishedAt":110,"publishedAtGMT":111,"updatedAt":112,"updatedAtGMT":113,"type":114,"listicle":115,"disableContentGate":71,"disableListicleNumbers":71,"canonicalUrl":9,"socialThumbnail":9,"readingTime":69,"customFields":116,"additional":117,"acf":118},72912476,{"id":79,"avatar":80,"firstName":9,"lastName":9,"displayName":81,"email":82,"username":81,"normalizedUsername":83,"description":9,"htmlBio":9,"twitter":9,"facebook":9,"instagram":9,"registeredAt":84},95243,"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/16fdff8cddc7bd4702273ce7e1677d1d0021c4b55e83ca690c8b22edc3cbfdf4?s=1024&r=g","Christopher Rhodes","christopheredward.rhodes@gmail.com","christopher-rhodes","2020-09-14T00:00:00+00:00",[86],{"id":79,"avatar":80,"firstName":9,"lastName":9,"displayName":81,"email":82,"username":81,"normalizedUsername":83,"description":9,"htmlBio":9,"twitter":9,"facebook":9,"instagram":9,"registeredAt":84},"Department Of Defense Cuts List Of Recognized Religions From More Than 200 To Only 31","The move has alarmed advocates for freedom of religion and angered at least one Republican congressman.","department-of-defense-cuts-recognized-religions","\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since being appointed by \u003Ca href=\"https://blavity.com/trump-ends-interview-black-journalist-kristen-welker\">President Trump\u003C/a>, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has stirred up controversy for his vocal campaign against diversity in the U.S. military. This time, the defense secretary appears to be targeting religious pluralism, slashing the number of \u003Ca href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/hegseth-directs-dod-drop-hundreds-211819026.html\">religious faiths\u003C/a> that are officially recognized by the armed services. The move has even drawn significant backlash from one member of Congress who feels that his faith has been singled out by the new policy.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Defense Department slashes recognized religions from 211 to 31\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Department of Defense recently issued a memo changing the list of religious faiths officially recognized by the U.S. military. The memo cuts the list of recognized faiths from 211 to only 31.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The memo was signed by Anthony Tata, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, one of the top officials within the Department of Defense, which the Trump administration has attempted to relabel the Department of War.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the memo, Tata says that he is acting on Hegseth’s orders to “streamline the DoW collection of religious preferences collection for service members to enhance the delivery of targeted religious support from the Chaplaincy.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The revised list removes a number of previously recognized faiths, such as Atheists, Deists, Druids, Eckankar, Heathens, Humanists, New Age churches, Pagans, Shamans, Spiritualists, Unitarian Universalists and Wiccans.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The remaining 31 faiths include mostly Christian denominations, as well as Agnostic, Baha’i Faith, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism, along with two categories for “no religion” or “other religions.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\u003Cp lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Pentagon reduced the list of recognized religions from 180 down to 31, with just 8 non-Christian religions recognized. \u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>This administration is working at (and succeeding) at trying to make us exclusively a Christian nation. \u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>The founding fathers would hate this. \u003Ca href=\"https://t.co/4GFbcSdICU\">pic.twitter.com/4GFbcSdICU\u003C/a>\u003C/p>— Mike Hollister 🇺🇸 (@ModernTrailhead) \u003Ca href=\"https://x.com/ModernTrailhead/status/2063308260644397164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 6, 2026\u003C/a>\u003C/blockquote>\u003Cscript async src=\"https://platform.x.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\">\u003C/script>\n\u003C/div>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">‘A middle finger’ to the Constitution\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Critics of the new regulations accuse them of violating the First Amendment’s guarantees of religious freedom and prohibition against state establishment of religion.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mikey Weinstein, the co-founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said in a \u003Ca href=\"https://myemail.constantcontact.com/A--Middle-Finger--to-the-Constitution---MRFF-s-Mikey-Weinstein-Reacts-to-Hegseth-s-Slashing-of-180-Faiths-from-Recognized-Religi.html?soid=1101766362531&aid=49jCArumNhM\">press release\u003C/a> that the new policy was a “middle finger to the United States Constitution’s separation of church and state.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He characterized the change from 211 recognized religions to 31 as “another absolute, clear, filthy and disgusting, unconstitutional, immoral and unethical attempt to force only the approved solution, getting closer and closer to Christian nationalism.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A former military chaplain, speaking on condition of anonymity, told \u003Ca href=\"https://www.military.com/dod-officially-drops-180-faiths-from-militarys-recognized-religion-list\">Military.com\u003C/a> that the list was “an excuse for the failure to provide the free exercise of religion for all people.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former chaplain described the change as “a tragedy and travesty, absolutely,” saying, “As far as I’m concerned, that’s a violation of the United States Constitution.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Republican senators object to relabeling of Mormon Church\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the reduction of religious faiths has alarmed advocates for religious freedom, the new list is also drawing controversy for how it lists one of the faiths that remain recognized.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, is included on the new list, but it is not listed as a “Christian” denomination, while the Catholic, Orthodox and various Protestant churches maintain the Christian label.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This has angered many Mormons, who feel their faith is being unfairly mislabeled in a way that harkens back to earlier persecution against Mormonism, a religious tradition that has its roots in the 19th-century teachings of American religious leader Joseph Smith.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003Ca href=\"https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/insight/utah-senators-challenge-pentagon-over-lds-christian-status/gm-GM8009C860?gemSnapshotKey=GM8009C860-snapshot-1&uxmode=ruby\">Republican Utah Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis\u003C/a>, both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who represent a state that is predominantly Mormon, have vocally objected to the change.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lee, who has posted dozens of times on social media about the change, calls the labeling “offensive” and “repugnant to any sense of decency and any sense of our common heritage and our common belief that the government needs to not weigh in on doctrinal disputes between various religious denominations.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\u003Cp lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mike Lee demands that Pete Hegseth immediately reverse the new Pentagon policy that excludes Mormons from DOD’s list of recognized Christian denominations. He says it is “offensive” and “repugnant.” \u003Ca href=\"https://t.co/NJ6QgYpK9s\">pic.twitter.com/NJ6QgYpK9s\u003C/a>\u003C/p>— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) \u003Ca href=\"https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/2063794774574829946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 8, 2026\u003C/a>\u003C/blockquote>\u003Cscript async src=\"https://platform.x.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\">\u003C/script>\n\u003C/div>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lee has called on Hegseth and the Pentagon to change the policy and has claimed to have spoken directly to President Trump about “the Pentagon’s ‘Christian List.’”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\u003Cp lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I just got off the phone with President Trump \u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>We discussed the Pentagon’s “Christian list”\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>I won’t speak for him, but I’m thrilled about where this is heading\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>We’re most fortunate that President Trump (1) loves Latter-day Saints, and (2) is our commander in chief \u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>Stay tuned \u003Ca href=\"https://t.co/ofxMJJHly9\">https://t.co/ofxMJJHly9\u003C/a>\u003C/p>— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) \u003Ca href=\"https://x.com/BasedMikeLee/status/2063841898838552928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 8, 2026\u003C/a>\u003C/blockquote>\u003Cscript async src=\"https://platform.x.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\">\u003C/script>\n\u003C/div>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since taking over at the Pentagon, Hegseth has launched a campaign against diversity, seemingly targeting Black people and other minorities as well as women. Now, his efforts appear to be attempting to promote a much narrower vision of religious diversity as well, drawing rebukes from religious freedom advocates and even members of his own party.\u003C/p>\n",[92],{"id":93,"name":94,"slug":95,"description":9,"image":26},120,"Politics","politics",[97],{"id":98,"name":99,"slug":100,"description":9,"image":9},44529,"top stories","top-stories",{"url":102,"thumbnail":103,"credit":104,"title":105,"alt":106,"type":51,"width":107,"height":108,"mimeType":109},"https://cms.blavity.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,slow-connection-quality=30,onerror=redirect/https://cms.blavity.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/GettyImages-2219947154.jpg","https://cms.blavity.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,slow-connection-quality=30,onerror=redirect/https://cms.blavity.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/GettyImages-2219947154-150x100.jpg","Photo: Getty Images","Senior man praying outdoors","Senior man with his hands clasped in front of his face in a moment of prayer or deep reflection on the city street",2118,1415,"image/jpeg","2026-06-11T08:29:37-04:00","2026-06-11 12:29:37","2026-06-11T08:29:44-04:00","2026-06-11 12:29:44","default",[],{"disableConnatixPlayer":71},{"disableAd":71,"disableConnatixPlayer":71,"enabledComments":71,"headScript":9},{"reviewer_name":9},{"id":120,"author":121,"authors":122,"title":124,"subTitle":125,"excerpt":9,"slug":126,"body":127,"categories":128,"tags":130,"featuredMedia":132,"publishedAt":140,"publishedAtGMT":141,"updatedAt":142,"updatedAtGMT":143,"type":114,"listicle":144,"disableContentGate":71,"disableListicleNumbers":71,"canonicalUrl":9,"socialThumbnail":9,"readingTime":69,"customFields":145,"additional":146,"acf":147},72912307,{"id":79,"avatar":80,"firstName":9,"lastName":9,"displayName":81,"email":82,"username":81,"normalizedUsername":83,"description":9,"htmlBio":9,"twitter":9,"facebook":9,"instagram":9,"registeredAt":84},[123],{"id":79,"avatar":80,"firstName":9,"lastName":9,"displayName":81,"email":82,"username":81,"normalizedUsername":83,"description":9,"htmlBio":9,"twitter":9,"facebook":9,"instagram":9,"registeredAt":84},"4 Republicans Sided With Dems To Reject SAVE America Act, The Restrictive Voter ID Law Pushed By Trump","Critics warned that the so-called ‘SAVE America Act’ would have prevented many eligible voters from casting ballots to address unfounded claims of election fraud","save-america-act-republicans-side-with-democrats-to-reject","\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A \u003Ca href=\"https://blavity.com/republicans-moving-to-eliminate-majority-black-districts-after-supreme-court-voting-rights-decision\">Republican\u003C/a> bill to enact restrictive voter ID measures has died in the Senate, with several GOP senators siding with Democrats to vote down the bill. Critics had argued that the bill was being pushed based on false Republican claims of voter fraud, and detractors warned that the stringent ID requirements would disenfranchise many people, including members of marginalized minority groups as well as trans individuals, married women and more.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Four Republicans side with Democrats to kill voter ID proposal\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Thursday, the Senate rejected an effort to push forward the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/04/nx-s1-5751145/save-act-senate-vote-trump\">SAVE America Act\u003C/a>, a law supported by President Trump that would implement a restrictive national voter ID standard. Most notably, the law would have required voters to present proof-of-citizenship documents, such as a passport or birth certificate, in order to register to vote, in addition to having to prove their identity, as is currently standard. The act would have also required all voters to present photo ID while voting, restrict options for registering and voting by \u003Ca href=\"https://campaignlegal.org/update/what-you-need-know-about-save-act\">mail\u003C/a>, and would have allowed the Department of Homeland Security to compile a national collection of states’ voter rolls in order to root out noncitizens through a \u003Ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/10/nx-s1-5588384/save-voting-data-us-citizens\">process\u003C/a> that has been criticized for erroneously flagging citizens.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump and his Republican allies presented the requirements as necessary to combat widespread voter fraud, which the president has repeatedly alleged without evidence. Critics pointed out that such voter fraud is incredibly rare and warned that millions of Americans did not have easy access to the documents required under the proposal.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Senate was attempting to attach the SAVE America Act to an immigration funding bill.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Opposing Trump effort to push false voter fraud narrative\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats voted against the amendment to attach the SAVE America Act to the immigration bill, and they were joined by four Republican senators: Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The four Republicans had previously joined Democrats to block a version of the SAVE America Act in April. The rejection by the four Republicans was a rebuke to President Trump, who has pushed for the SAVE America Act as part of his false narrative of widespread voter fraud. Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Trump again pushed for the act during an Oval Office event while continuing to push unfounded election fraud conspiracy theories, insinuating without evidence that fraud was occurring in California’s primary elections.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\u003Cp lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Republicans must pass the SAVE America Act! \u003Ca href=\"https://t.co/hTrMX3C54C\">pic.twitter.com/hTrMX3C54C\u003C/a>\u003C/p>— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) \u003Ca href=\"https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2062618983954554890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 2026\u003C/a>\u003C/blockquote>\u003Cscript async src=\"https://platform.x.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\">\u003C/script>\n\u003C/div>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Act could have disenfranchised millions of voters\u003C/h3>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As \u003Ca href=\"https://blavity.com/what-is-the-save-america-act-voter-id-bill\">Blavity\u003C/a> previously reported, Republicans in the House of Representatives passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in February. Critics of the bill warned that it could disenfranchise millions of people who did not have the required documents, such as a passport, and could not afford them or obtain them in time to vote. The law was expected to disproportionately impact young people and people of color.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The law could have also blocked the ability to vote for people whose legal names did not match their passports or birth certificates, such as married women or trans individuals. The act, which would have been implemented immediately if it had been passed, is part of a larger effort by Republicans to change the rules in their favor ahead of the midterm elections. The GOP has also been using partisan and racist \u003Ca href=\"https://blavity.com/supreme-court-allows-alabama-to-use-map-previously-deemed-racist\">redistricting efforts\u003C/a> in Republican-controlled states to tilt the election their way as the two parties compete for control of Congress.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump had prioritized the SAVE America Act, previously posting on social media that the act “supersedes everything else” and saying that he “will not sign other bills until this is passed.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is unclear whether Trump will follow through on his earlier threat to refuse to sign other bills before the SAVE America Act is passed. For now, such passage does not appear to be happening anytime soon, with members of the president’s own party reaching across the aisle to block the restrictive voter ID measure from advancing.\u003C/p>\n",[129],{"id":93,"name":94,"slug":95,"description":9,"image":26},[131],{"id":98,"name":99,"slug":100,"description":9,"image":9},{"url":133,"thumbnail":134,"credit":135,"title":136,"alt":137,"type":51,"width":138,"height":139,"mimeType":109},"https://cms.blavity.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,slow-connection-quality=30,onerror=redirect/https://cms.blavity.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/GettyImages-2279085532.jpg","https://cms.blavity.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,slow-connection-quality=30,onerror=redirect/https://cms.blavity.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/GettyImages-2279085532-150x100.jpg","US President Donald Trump holds a printed copy of a post from his Truth Social account about \"The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act\" (also known as the \"SAVE America Act\") as he speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on June 4, 2026. | Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images","US-POLITICS-TRUMP","US President Donald Trump holds a printed copy of a post from his Truth Social account about \"The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act\" (also known as the \"SAVE America Act\") as he speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on June 4, 2026.",1024,683,"2026-06-11T08:05:36-04:00","2026-06-11 12:05:36","2026-06-11T08:06:27-04:00","2026-06-11 12:06:27",[],{"disableConnatixPlayer":71},{"disableAd":71,"disableConnatixPlayer":71,"enabledComments":71,"headScript":9},{"reviewer_name":9},{"id":149,"author":150,"authors":151,"title":153,"subTitle":154,"excerpt":9,"slug":155,"body":156,"categories":157,"tags":159,"featuredMedia":161,"publishedAt":169,"publishedAtGMT":170,"updatedAt":171,"updatedAtGMT":172,"type":114,"listicle":173,"disableContentGate":71,"disableListicleNumbers":71,"canonicalUrl":9,"socialThumbnail":9,"readingTime":69,"customFields":174,"additional":175,"acf":176},72911040,{"id":79,"avatar":80,"firstName":9,"lastName":9,"displayName":81,"email":82,"username":81,"normalizedUsername":83,"description":9,"htmlBio":9,"twitter":9,"facebook":9,"instagram":9,"registeredAt":84},[152],{"id":79,"avatar":80,"firstName":9,"lastName":9,"displayName":81,"email":82,"username":81,"normalizedUsername":83,"description":9,"htmlBio":9,"twitter":9,"facebook":9,"instagram":9,"registeredAt":84},"Think America’s Best Days Are Over? New Study Shows The Wealthier See Possibility While Most Americans See Decline","The Pew Research Center survey shows nearly every racial, political and income-based demographic is pessimistic about the country’s future compared to its past.","study-says-most-america-thinks-best-days-are-behind","\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the \u003Ca href=\"http://blavity.com/tags/united-states\">United States\u003C/a> prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, a new survey shows that most Americans believe the country’s best days are behind it rather than ahead. This view of the country, which crosses nearly every major demographic category, comes at a time of social, political and economic turmoil.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Most Americans see the country’s best years as ‘behind us’ rather than ahead\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003Ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/05/15/a-majority-of-americans-say-the-countrys-best-years-are-behind-us/?utm_source=AdaptiveMailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=26.05.15%20-%20Heads%20up%20America%27s%20best%20days&org=982&lvl=100&ite=17727&lea=5092954&ctr=0&par=1&trk=a0DQm00000CXyUjMAL\">Pew Research Center\u003C/a> asked a total of 3,560 adult Americans whether they were optimistic or pessimistic about what the country would be like 50 years from now, as well as whether they “think the country’s best years are…” either “ahead of us” or “behind us.”\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A significant majority, 59%, believe that the country’s best days have passed, while only 40% answered that they think America’s best days are yet to come.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This result holds across parties, with 64% of Democratic or Democratic-leaning Americans and 53% of Republican or Republican-leaning Americans holding this negative view of the country’s future compared to its past.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The results also hold for almost all income groups. Only wealthier Americans did not have a predominantly negative outlook; this group was split evenly between those seeing the country’s best days ahead of us and those seeing them behind us.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\u003Cp lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary, 59% of Americans say the country’s best years are behind us, while 40% say its best years are ahead. \u003Ca href=\"https://t.co/hFJG8fKmsc\">pic.twitter.com/hFJG8fKmsc\u003C/a>\u003C/p>— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/pewresearch/status/2055347896917041198?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 15, 2026\u003C/a>\u003C/blockquote>\u003Cscript async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\">\u003C/script>\n\u003C/div>\u003C/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Black and Hispanic Americans most likely to see country’s best days in the past\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result also holds for every major racial or ethnic demographic, with majorities of white, Black, Hispanic and Asian American respondents all saying the best days of the United States are behind us.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This result is strongest for Black and Hispanic Americans, with nearly two-thirds of each group — 66% and 64%, respectively — seeing the country’s best days as being behind it.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The survey was conducted between Dec. 8 and Dec. 14, 2025. It reflects the views of Americans after nearly a year of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, which has seen economic instability, political turmoil and erratic foreign and domestic policies.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Black and Hispanic Americans, the two groups least likely to see things improving in the future, 2025 also saw various efforts to whitewash American history, a spike in \u003Ca href=\"https://blavity.com/unemployment-rate-for-black-people-is-the-highest-since-the-pandemic\">Black unemployment\u003C/a> driven in part by the alleged targeting of Black officials at independent government agencies for dismissal, and a series of heavy-handed \u003Ca href=\"https://blavity.com/trump-uses-slur-on-thanksgiving-when-discussing-pause-third-world-countries-immigrants\">immigration crackdowns\u003C/a> that largely targeted immigrant Hispanic and Black communities.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Partisan divide exists, but pessimism spans both Republicans and Democrats\u003C/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The negative view of the country’s prospects represents a shift over time.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2025 Pew survey shows that only 40% of adult Americans see the country’s best days are ahead. That figure is down from the 44% who saw America’s best days ahead in 2014.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This shift in opinion from the second Obama administration to Trump’s second presidency masks a partisan divide. More Republicans surveyed in 2025, 46%, see the United States’ best days ahead than Republicans surveyed in 2014, when only 36% felt that way.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That positive shift among Republicans is outweighed, however, by a sharp negative shift among Democrats. In 2014, a significant majority of Democrats surveyed, 57%, believed the country’s best days were ahead. By 2025, only 34% of Democrats surveyed shared that view.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In absolute terms, however, both parties are currently wary of the country’s future. About 39% of Republicans and 50% of Democrats said they were either very or somewhat pessimistic about the future, while only 33% of Republicans and 25% of Democrats said they were optimistic about where the country will be in 50 years.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the 250th anniversary of American independence approaching, most Americans currently have a negative outlook on the country’s future. As the party behind the “Make America Great Again” slogan seeks to hold onto power after this year’s midterm elections, the new Pew Research Center survey suggests the prevailing mood across the country is that the United States’ greatest days may already be in the past.\u003C/p>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003C/p>\n",[158],{"id":93,"name":94,"slug":95,"description":9,"image":26},[160],{"id":98,"name":99,"slug":100,"description":9,"image":9},{"url":162,"thumbnail":163,"credit":164,"title":165,"alt":166,"type":51,"width":167,"height":168,"mimeType":109},"https://cms.blavity.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,slow-connection-quality=30,onerror=redirect/https://cms.blavity.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GettyImages-2213946093.jpg","https://cms.blavity.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,slow-connection-quality=30,onerror=redirect/https://cms.blavity.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GettyImages-2213946093-150x100.jpg","Photo: Getty Images\n","Woman getting cold sitting under the blanket indoors. Copy space","Woman getting cold sitting under the blanket indoors. Home heating. Copy space.",2500,1667,"2026-05-18T07:10:00-04:00","2026-05-18 11:10:00","2026-05-18T08:17:34-04:00","2026-05-18 12:17:34",[],{"disableConnatixPlayer":71},{"disableAd":71,"disableConnatixPlayer":71,"enabledComments":71,"headScript":9},{"reviewer_name":9},289,["Reactive",179],{},["Set"],["ShallowReactive",182],{"ETd7CPiCVT":26,"L5mKWLzO22":26},"/from-pandering-callouts-to-praise-of-trump-heres-what-the-black-people-at-the-rnc-have-to-say",["Reactive",185],{"isarticle":186},{"article":71,"cname":9,"iuParts":187},"/11462305847/bla"]