Pastor walks back claim Chicago gangs want to work with Trump

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The Ohio pastor who told Donald Trump that he had spoken with gang leaders who promised to “lower the body count” if social programs were enacted is now walking back his comments.

Pastor Darrell Scott told FOX 32 that he “misspoke” when he suggested to the president that he had spoken with “top gang thugs.”

At the time, on Wednesday, though, Scott told the president that he had spoken to gang leaders who wanted him to pass on a message to Trump: “They’re going to commit that if they lower the body count, we come and do some social programs.”

“If they’re not going to solve the problems, what you’re doing is the right thing, then we’re going to solve the problem for them. Because we’re going to have to do something about Chicago. ‘Cause what’s happening in Chicago should not be happening in this country,” Trump responded.

“They want to work with this administration,” Scott said.

Now, however, Scott is saying that a lack of sleep caused him to make those comments, admitting that he had not spoken with “top gang thugs” but simply one person who was a former gang member. He still insisted that the violence needs to be addressed, though.

“Before we start talking about creating jobs, before we start talking about all these other things, before we implement them, we need to reduce that body count,” he said.