Black pastor scolds Trump for politicizing speech in Flint

Donald Trump's remarks were cut short when Rev. Faith Green Timmons interrupted to remind him that he should keep his remarks nonpolitical.

TheGrio Staff

Sep 15, 2016

Donald Trump visited Flint, Michigan, this week during a campaign stop that was billed as an opportunity for the Republican presidential candidate to learn more about the beleaguered community.

During the stop, Trump visited Bethel United Methodist Church, where he was greeted by booing opponents before speaking to about 70 people in the church.

His remarks were cut short, however, when the pastor of the church, Rev. Faith Green Timmons, interrupted to remind him that he should keep his remarks nonpolitical after Trump started to go off on a tangent about Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee.

“Mr. Trump, I invited you here to thank us for what we’ve done in Flint, not to give a political speech,” Timmons said.

After that, Trump ended out his remarks by promising to fix Flint’s problems if he is elected president, though he did not offer any concrete solutions during his remarks.

“It used to be that cars were made in Flint and you couldn’t drink the water in Mexico. And now the cars are made in Mexico and you can’t drink the water in Flint,” Trump said at the church. “It’s terrible.”

Trump spoke for just over five minutes before he was interrupted by protesters who came out with questions about housing discrimination.

Erik Shelley, of the Michigan People’s Campaign, was the one to ask the question and was disappointed at the lack of a response.

“We hoped there would be a question and answer period and there wasn’t,” Shelley said. “What he was trying to do was use us as a backdrop. The people of Flint are real, they’re not a backdrop.”

Trump later lashed out at Rev. Green Timmons for interrupting his speech.

“Something was up,” Trump told “Fox and Friends” on Thursday morning. “I noticed she was so nervous when she introduced me.

“When she got up to introduce me she was so nervous, she was shaking. I said, wow, this is kind of strange. Then she came up. So she had that in mind, there’s no question.”