Donald Trump says he has support of 100 black ‘religious leaders’

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A hundred black pastors and religious leaders supporting Donald Trump?

There is likely no better way to ruin a perfectly good Thanksgiving holiday.

The GOP presidential candidate announced that he will receive the endorsement of 100 black pastors and evangelical leaders on Monday. This moves comes in an effort to broaden his religious appeal, and at a time when the Republican frontrunner has made statements pointing to both his religious bigotry and racism.

The list of Negro preachers supporting the incendiary Trump — increasingly described as fascist by GOP elites and some conservative voices — has not yet been released. However, we do know that Darrell Scott, senior pastor of the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland, helped organize the group of black religious leaders coming out for Trump. Scott, a registered Democrat and Obama supporter, told the New York Times that he met with the candidate recently and found him best suited for president. According to the pastor, contrary to media reports, he saw no reason to believe Trump is a racist. “I was looking for some subtle hints of racism,” Scott said. “I didn’t see it at all.”

Scott’s relationship with Trump reportedly began five years ago, when the pastor met Michael Cohen, one of Trump’s top executives, according to CBN.  In September of this year, Scott organized a meeting for Trump with religious leaders in New York, where they laid hands on him.

[youtubevid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAgLnnkFOcg]

Among the list of those who attended was Christian prosperity televangelist Paula White, the Florida megachurch pastor with a daily television show on The Word network. White prayed for Trump, saying:

Father, we just secure him right now by the blood of Jesus. We thank you that no weapon formed against him will be able to prosper and any tongue that rises against him will be condemned according to the word of God.

Some of the others who were reportedly in attendance or invited:

• Prophet R.D. Scott, who has a show on the WORD network, was sentenced to a 16-month prison term in Ohio for theft, according to the Herald Bulletin.
• Southern Baptist megachurch Pastor Robert Jeffress, of First Baptist Dallas, called Islam an evil and false religion in a sermon following the Paris terrorist attacks. “These terrorists were not acting in opposition to the teaching of Islam,” said Jeffress. “They were acting according to the teaching of Islam.”
• Bishop Clarence McClendon, the pastor of Full Harvest International Church in Los Angeles, California, is also the director of Harvest Fire Mega Mass Choir and cast member of the Oxygen reality show “Preachers of L.A.”
• Bishop Noel Jones, the senior pastor of the City of Refuge Church in Gardena, California, also appears on “Preachers of L.A.”
• Steve Munsey, the pastor of the Family Christian Center in Munster, Indiana, reportedly raked in $2.9 million from 2008 and 2011, yet his church faced foreclosure proceedings.
• Pastor Lionel Traylor, founder of Lionel J. Traylor Ministries and Establishmentarian of the Epicenter Church, in Jackson, Mississippi.
• Other invitees included Pastor Mark Burns, CEO and founder of the Christian Television Network;  Pastor James Davis of Wealth Builders Network; Jews for Jesus Rabbi Kirt Schneider, television evangelist Jan Crouch; conservative televangelist David Jeremiah and Pastor Demetrius Johnson of the Aurora Outreach Church in Aurora, Illinois.

And when there are black “leaders” swirling around someone such as Trump, please believe that someone plans to get paid. And there is bound to be some pimping going on. Many African-American religious figures are fighting for justice and to improve the human condition.

At a time of heightened police violence against black lives, hate crimes on college campuses, mass incarceration, entrenched poverty, unemployment and other forms of institutional racism, there could be no more crucial time for the community. And never have the stakes been higher. At the same time, we know that some have been a detriment to the black community, having sold us out for a few pieces of silver, or at the very least a chicken wing and biscuit dinner.

Now, Trump, who has questioned President Obama’s citizenship, can say that some of his best friends are black, despite the overwhelming evidence he is a racist. Surely, he will tout their endorsement when he travels to South Carolina and other places as proof of this full and unwavering support among African-Americans. Just recently, at a campaign event in Birmingham, Alabama, Trump cheered as goons in the crowd beat, kicked and ejected a Black Lives Matter protester. Then, Trump said the man deserved to be “roughed up,” and then tweeted manufactured and racist crime statistics that were promoted by white supremacists. In recent days, he argued that Muslims in America should be made to wear identification badges and made the baseless claim that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheered during the 9/11 attacks.

Nothing puts a smiley face on white bigotry better than some black “friends.”

This charade is not meant for black consumption, as black people know better. Mostly, the placement of Negro preachers in the Trump camp is to placate a white audience and let them think that he isn’t so bad after all. This would be hilarious if it wasn’t so sad.

Follow David A. Love on Twitter @davidalove