The Choice Is Clear: Hillary’s Vision for An America That Is Hopeful and Inclusive

On Thursday in North Carolina, Hillary Clinton continued to make her closing argument for the presidency, outlining her record of championing the interests of people of color throughout her career–in contrast with Donald Trump’s history of racial discrimination and divisive rhetoric. Throughout her professional life and candidacy, Hillary has pledged to take on social injustice, including systemic racism and sexism. If elected president, Hillary has vowed to pass end-to-end criminal justice reform and implement common sense gun reform, priorities of great concern to communities of color.

Trump, on the other hand, has throughout his life and this campaign repeatedly instilled division and hate–from championing the racist birther movement and courting conspiracy theorists, to calling for a deportation force for immigrant families and banning Muslims.

Long before Trump ran for president, he was sued by the Department of Justice for racial discrimination at his family’s housing developments in Brooklyn and Queens–in addition to discrimination at properties in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Norfolk, Virginia. Federal investigators were told that Trump employees would mark applications of prospective renters with “C” for “colored” and refused to rent to African Americans. At her event in Winterville today, Mae Brown Wiggins, a registered nurse who was turned away from an apartment Trump managed because of her skin color, introduced Hillary, describing the impact Trump’s actions had on her life.

Years later, in the 1980’s, Trump took out full-page ads in four newspapers calling for the death penalty for a group of black and Latino teenagers who were wrongly convicted of a crime, some as young as 14 years old. Just recently, Trump doubled down on his view that the five men, who were exonerated based on DNA evidence, are still guilty and should go to jail. Trump’s refusal to accept the evidence and admit he was wrong about the Central Park 5 is deeply disturbing, and continues to exacerbate deep and painful wounds borne by the men and their families.

The choice is clear. Americans deserve a president who believes Americans are stronger together, not one whose dark and divisive vision is fundamentally at odds with who we are as Americans.

As the presidential election draws to a close, here’s a recap of Trump’s pattern of discrimination and divisiveness:

A History of Housing Discrimination

• Trump was twice sued by the Department of Justice for discrimination in housing.
• Despite Trump’s claim that many companies were sued for discrimination when he was, the truth is that Fred and Donald Trump’s violation of the law was so egregious that the case made against them was “one of the strongest”
• At the first presidential debate, Trump admitted he was sued for housing discrimination saying, “we settled… it was very easy.”
• Trump’s real estate company had a disturbing practice of marking applications from black families with the letter “‘C’, for ‘Colored.”
• A Trump building manager had the rental application of a black woman and was instructed to “‘Take the application and put it in a drawer and leave it there,’ Mr. Leibowitz, now 88, recalled in an interview.”
• The N-word was used Trump offices and Donald was reportedly was in the room when it happened.
• Black families made up a tiny percentage of renters in Trump-owned buildings.

Trump vs. Central Park 5

• Trump paid for a racially provocative ad calling on New York lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty for five teenage Latino and African American men who were wrongfully accused of raping a woman.
• Trump refused to acknowledge the innocence of The Central Park 5 even after their 2014 exoneration.

The Birtherism Conspiracy Theory

• Trump led the birther movement in an attempt to delegitimize America’s first black president
• Trump continued pushing his birtherism theory to delegitimize President Barack Obama every Trump’s conspiracy theory: President Obama is a Muslim and rendered ineligible for the presidency because he was born in Kenya.
• When asked what he would say to people of color who were hurt by his remarks Trump repeatedly said, “I say nothing.”

Trump’s Hateful Rhetoric

• Trump has failed to appropriately disavow racists and white supremacists like David Duke supporting his campaign.
• Trump said African Americans have “nothing to lose” by voting for him because: “You’re living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs.”
• Trump continues to ignore history and disparage black Americans, saying the African American community is in the worst shape “ever, ever, ever” and African Americans in cities are “living in hell” and living in “war zones.”
• Trump retweeted “racially loaded” and “wildly inaccurate” statistics claiming Blacks were responsible for 81 percent of White homicides.

Hateful Movements

• Trump’s campaign shared an anti-Semitic image on his twitter that first appeared on white supremacist websites.
• Trump has received an outpouring of support from hate movements like the alt-right.
• White Supremacists used Trump’s candidacy as a recruiting tool.
• White Supremacists and Klan members supported Trump, comparing his views to their views.
• David Duke said Trump has “Made it OK to talk about these incredible concerns of European Americans today, because I think European Americans know they are the only group that can’t defend their own essential interests and their point of view.
• “Virginia KKK Leader Endorses Trump: ‘What He Believes In, We Believe In.’”
• Trump on being supported by White Supremacists: “A lot of people like me.”

More Discrimination in Trump Organization

• Trump Plaza was fined $200,000 for shuffling Black and female dealers away from a high-rollers table to accommodate the preferences of patron and “reputed mob figure” Robert LiButti.
• Trump Marina was fined for requesting non-Black driver.
• When Trump came to his casino, Black people were allegedly ordered off the floor, according to a former employee in a report by The New Yorker.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

HFA Highlights Hillary Clinton’s 30 Year Career

Donald Trump is eager to talk about the last 30 years and Hillary Clinton, too, is eager to discuss her three decades of experience and public service. Clinton has dedicated her life to serving others, while Trump has spent decades trying to get ahead at the expense of others. Today, Hillary for America is launch a new website offering a side-by-side comparison of what they were each doing at various times in their lives.  Their records show that there’s only one candidate in this race who truly puts the American people first: Hillary Clinton.

In the 1970s and 80s:

• Clinton’s first job out of law school was with the Children’s Defense Fund, and one of her first tasks was going door to door to figure out why so many children were missing school. The evidence she helped gather was presented to Congress to build the case for the passage of the law that ensures all children with disabilities have access quality education. Later, while a law professor at the University of Arkansas, Clinton founded a legal aid clinic to help low-income children and families in need of legal representation. And as First Lady of Arkansas, she chaired the state’s Education Standards Committee, working to improve the quality of schools and give every child a chance to succeed.

• Trump was President of his dad’s real estate company and the family business when it was sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent apartments to African Americans in New York City and Virginia. The lawsuit unearthed a disturbing pattern among employees of Trump’s real estate company, who appeared to systematically deny applications to aspiring black renters.  Trump borrowed at least $14 million from his father for his real estate empire.

In the 1990s:

• Clinton worked with Democrats and Republicans to pass the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which insures more than 8 million American kids today. She traveled to China to give a bold, landmark address affirming women’s rights.

• Trump refused to pay contractors on some of his biggest projects and was sued for fraud repeatedly– like Marty Rosenberg, whose family business was paid less than half for its work at Trump’s casino. No business person or contractor proved too small for Trump to stiff. Trump claimed such large losses on his tax returns that he possibly avoided paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years. Trump insulted women for their appearances, calling a former Miss Universe an “eating machine.”

In the 2000s:

• After 9/11, Clinton immediately got to work fighting for first responders and emergency workers. She introduced a bill to speed up the payment of benefits to families of public safety officers who died in the line of duty on 9/11 and it became law a few days later. In 2006, she introduced the Heroes at Home Act to aid veterans with post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injuries.

• In the Senate, Clinton also worked on improving access to health care and making it more affordable. She fought for Medicare to be able to negotiate for fair drug prices, supported getting generic drugs to market faster, and consistently backed safe prescription drug importation from other countries. She co-authored and worked to pass the Pediatric Research Equity Act, which forced drug companies to conduct pediatric tests on products prescribed for kids. “She also worked on economic issues for New York State, co-founding the bipartisan Senate manufacturing caucus and fighting for New York’s strong manufacturing base and steel industry.

• At the same time, Trump took $150,000 from a program designed to help small businesses in the aftermath of 9/11 and spent years lying about both his personal attachment to 9/11 and his commitment to helping New York recover. Trump also spent his time cheating more than 5,000 students at his scam Trump University and running a sham charitable foundation that spent money on non-charitable expenses like a portrait of himself and personal legal fees, and failed to properly register to raise money in the State of New York. It was reported that Trump repeatedly demeaned a crew member working on The Apprentice and used misogynistic language about female contestants.

In the 2010s:

• Clinton served as Secretary of State. She built the toughest sanctions regime in history on Iran, twisting arms in China, Russia, and dozens of other countries, to force Iran to the negotiating table. And when pressure started working, she sent her closest aides to explore a diplomatic opening that led to a  deal cutting off Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon. She personally negotiated an end to Hamas rockets raining down on Israel in 2012 and worked to build stronger defense programs for Israel, including upgrading the Iron Dome rocket defense system. She worked to ensure ratification of the New START treaty, which will make the world safer by reducing the number of deployed U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons. She fought to make women’s rights a priority in international relations, stood up against sex trafficking of women and children, and led the fight for a UN Security Council resolution to combat sexual violence against women and children around the world that passed unanimously. She advised President Obama on the decision to bring Osama bin Laden to justice — and on May 1, 2011, she was in the Situation Room as the operation unfolded.

The same night as Clinton advised President Obama on the Osama bin Laden raid, Trump was busy appearing on an episode of The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump has spent this decade peddling shameful lies about President Obama’s nationality as the leader of the birther movement; making a deal with Gaddafi to set up a tent on Trump’s property; filing for bankruptcy at Trump Plaza; fighting fraud suits over Trump University; and doling out illegal campaign donations from his sham charitable foundation.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

Hillary Clinton Campaigns in Michigan and Ohio

Following last night’s debate, Hillary Clinton returned to the campaign trail with events in Michigan and Ohio. Clinton’s first event was on the campus of Wayne State University in Detroit. While her speech covered a number of platform points, she also spoke about bipartisanship saying that she is “winning more and more support not just from independents but also Republicans.” She then went after Donald Trump for his divisive campaign, name calling, and refusal to release his income tax records. “I believe everyone in this room has paid more income tax than (Trump) has,” she said. Clinton concluded by talking about the importance of voting in the November election. A video of Clinton’s speech is below.

Clinton then spoke at a rally at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The event was by far the largest of the campaign with over 18,000 people filling the oval. During the event, Clinton spoke about a variety of her platform points including reigning in the costs of higher education. She also spoke about her opponent and criticized him for not buying steel made in the United States, but instead buying steel from China. Clinton also spoke about her time as a public servant saying, “When Donald Trump talks about what I have been doing for the last 30 years, I welcome that. Because in the 1970s, I was working to end discrimination and he was being sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination. In the 1980s, I was working to improve the schools in Arkansas … while he was getting a loan for $14 million from his father to start a business. On the day that I was in the Situation Room watching the raid that brought Osama bin Laden to justice, he was hosting Celebrity Apprentice.” A full video of Clinton’s speech is below.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: Patch, Detroit Free Press, Cleveland.com

Clinton Campaign Statement on Trump Doubling Down on Insulting African Americans

Hillary for America Director of State Campaigns and Political Engagement Marlon Marshall released the following statement in response to comments made by Donald Trump at a rally in Akron, Ohio.

Today during a rally in Ohio, Donald Trump doubled down on his insults to the African American community, which he leveled during a Friday speech in Michigan. There, he posed the question to African Americans, “What do you have to lose? You’re living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs.” Today, in Akron, Trump continued: “You can go to war zones in countries that we’re fighting and it’s safer than living in some of our inner cities… I ask you this. Crime. All of the problems. To the African Americans who I employ so many — so many people… What the hell do you have to lose? … You’ll be able to walk down the street without getting shot. Right now, you walk down the street. You get shot.”

Hillary for America Director of State Campaigns and Political Engagement Marlon Marshall released the following statement in response:

“It could not be clearer how much African Americans have to lose under Donald Trump. He is doubling down on insults, fear and stereotypes that set our community back and further divide our country. But again this is not surprising, this is a man who questions the citizenship of the first African American president, has a disturbing pattern of courting white supremacists, and has been sued for housing discrimination against communities of color.

As demonstrated by his bigotry and actions, Donald Trump is unfit and unqualified to be President. We cannot afford this out of touch and divisive thinking in the White House, which is why we must take nothing for granted and work as hard as we can to make sure Hillary Clinton is our next president.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: The Columbus Dispatch