How a Racist President Is Trying to Woo Black Voters
Trump’s use of cash and clemency demonstrate his corrupt intent.
by Nancy LeTourneau, Washington Monthly

Last week the New York Times reported that a Trump ally held an event at which they were handing out cash to black attendees. The transactional (i.e., corrupt) nature of political support in exchange for cash is so deeply Trumpian that it hardly requires commentary.
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But then came a Trump campaign Super Bowl ad that featured the release of Alice Marie Johnson, a 64-year-old black grandmother from Mississippi, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for her role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy. Reality-TV star Kim Kardashian West had lobbied the president for a commutation of her sentence, which he granted in 2018. It will come as no surprise that the commercial was based on several lies.
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Trump has ruled on only 204 clemency requests — 24 approvals and 180 denials. That is the slowest pace in decades.

Just like everything else with Trump, the power of clemency has become a transactional process: you do something for me and I’ll do something for you. That is why the president’s first pardon went to nativist sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been a vocal Trump supporter.