NBC News reporter Dasha Burns said that several Black and Latino Trump supporters shut her down when she attempted to confront them on the former president’s "racist" rhetoric on Thursday.
Burns appeared on MSNBC on Friday to talk about her coverage of Trump’s massive rally the previous day in deep-blue Bronx, New York. The reporter recalled that the Black and Latino Trump supporters she spoke to on the scene had completely bought into Trump’s anti-illegal immigration and economic policies, even if he had said "racist" and "bigoted" things in the past.
"They are just so focused on what their lives are like right now, what they can feel tangibly, that when I push back with those comments, they shut that down," Burns told MSNBC host Ana Cabrera, commenting that these voters don’t care about Trump’s rhetoric compared to his policies.
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During the segment, Burns seemed surprised by the fact that many of the people she spoke to were immigrants who supported Trump's points on heavily restricting immigration and potentially calling for mass deportations.
"Well, this might sound a little counterintuitive, but I did talk to folks in that crowd who themselves were immigrants," she said. "A lot of people that I talked to were born and raised in the Bronx. For some of them, this was their first ever Trump event. And when you talk to immigrants that are going to these Trump rallies, they agree with his message on immigration."
She continued, "Their point is, ‘Look, 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, ‘We have these immigrants right now that the city is taking care in a way that I’ve never felt taken care of by this city.'"
Burns added that among the attendees were "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."
In footage of Burns speaking to various minority Trump supporters at the rally, one praised Trump and slammed Biden for having "disrespected the people of the city of New York."
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Another indicated to the reporter he hadn’t forgotten Biden’s comments to podcast host Charlamagne Tha God in 2020 that anyone who votes for Trump instead of him "ain’t Black."
Burns said that she tried to push back, to no avail.
"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 been seen as racist and bigoted," she added. "They 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."
