Trump slams BLM as being part of 'mob rule' that is destroying 'black lives' as he unveils his $500B 'Platinum Plan' for African Americans that will also designate the KKK a 'terrorist organization'
President Donald Trump told a 'Blacks for Trump' rally in Atlanta that the BLM movement is a 'mob' that is 'destroying many black lives'.
'The stated goal of BLM organization, people, is to achieve the destruction of the nuclear family, abolish the police, abolish prisons, abolish border security, abolish capitalism, and abolish school choice - that's what their stated goals are,' Trump told the rally on Friday.
In a play for black votes, Trump also vowed to designate the KKK - but also Antifa - 'terrorist organizations,' he announced at an event in Atlanta Friday.
The president will also increase capital to black communities by nearly $500 billion, a figure first reported by Fox News.
Trump will also push to make Juneteenth, the day slavery officially ended in the United States, a federal holiday.
In Atlanta Friday, President Donald Trump promised to designate the KKK - and also Antifa - a 'terrorist' organization and make Juneteenth a federal holiday
President Donald Trump gives an elbow bump to one of his prominent black supporters, Herschel Walker
Audience members react to President Donald Trump's appearance Friday in Atlanta, Georgia as the president tried to enhance his standing with black voters
Trump made the promises with less than 40 days before the November presidential election as he spent Friday trying to firm up support with communities of color, who tend to vote heavily Democratic.
Earlier Friday he participated in a 'Latinos for Trump' event at his property in Miami, Florida.
In Georgia, Trump said he 'will always put Americans first and that includes very, very importantly black Americans.'
He spoke at an event in Atlanta, a majority-black city and the largest in Georgia, a state that could come into play in the Nov. 3 election.
The speech and a fact sheet provided by Trump's campaign did not spell out how Trump would make good on his promises.
Only Congress has the power to create a federal holiday, but Trump could help introduce a measure for lawmakers to pass.
Calls to make Juneteenth, June 19, a federal holiday grew louder this summer as Black Lives Matter protests swept through the country and many organizations gave their workers the day off.
The day is already recognized by 47 states and the District of Columbia.
It marks when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and shared the news that slavery was abolished.
Hawaii, North Dakota and South Dakota do not have a holiday or other official observance of Juneteenth.
Earlier this year, the president had planned to hold his first rally in months on Juneteenth in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which saw some of the country's worst racial violence 99 years ago, but moved it to June 20 after an outcry.
Trump is trailing Democratic opponent Joe Biden in national polling.
He won Georgia in 2016, but his lead over Biden in the state has recently narrowed, with a New York Times poll this week showing the candidates in a tie.
More than 85% of Black voters belong to the Democratic party or lean toward it, according to the Pew Research Center.
Still, Trump told the Atlanta crowd that Biden 'doesn't know Black Americans like I do.'