Trump questions ‘why the hell’ he passed reform after failing to energize Black voters

President Donald Trump reportedly questioned passing criminal justice reform after it did not improve his popularity with Black voters.

President Donald Trump allegedly issued statements of regret after his political moves did not change his rank among Black voters.

Read More: Biden makes push for voters on National Black Voter Day

The Washington Post interviewed current and former White House staff to gain insight on the president’s alleged racist tendencies. One person, a former official who spoke under the condition of anonymity, claimed the POTUS had a dramatic reaction to his polling numbers among Black communities despite passing criminal justice reform that aided against laws that disproportionately targeted African Americans.

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House on September 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump fielded questions about a coronavirus vaccine and the latest developments in the Breonna Taylor case among other topics. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images)

The official told the Post, Trump  “went s—house crazy,” and continued to question “Why the hell did I do that?” as he yelled at aides.

The legislation Trump had hoped to use to sway Black voters is the First Step Act, an initiative empowered by Jared Kushner, his son-in-law. According to the report, the president initially did not want to support the act until he was informed of the potential positive effect the move could have had on Black voters. The bill was signed by the commander in chief in December 2018. His rant came only a few months after, the former official told the Post.

Read More: Symone Sanders on how Black voters can combat voter suppression

According to the Washington Post, the fall-out over the First Step Act was not a singular behavior. The report continued describing how efforts to raise funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities lead by Omarosa Manigault Newman were met with a similar response after Black voters remained against Trump.

“You’ve been at this for four months, Omarosa,” Trump said, according to The Post. “But the numbers haven’t budged.”

The Washington Post report issued the stance that the president’s public and private racist remarks are only to amplify his impact on choice voters outside of the Black demographic.

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President Donald Trump charges up the crowd Monday during a campaign rally at the Toledo Express Airport in Swanton, Ohio. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

“I don’t think Donald Trump is in any way a white supremacist, a neo-Nazi or anything of the sort,” a former senior administration official said to the Post. They continued, “but I think he has a general awareness that one component of his base includes factions that trend in that direction.”

Data published by CNN found that in the 2016 presidential election, where Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, only 8% of his votes came from Black voters and only 21% from non-White voters in general.

In the current 2020 presidential election between Democratic nominee Joe Biden and the sitting president, Trump is ranked behind his opponent with Black voters. FiveThirtyEight reports 83 percent of likely Black voters favored Biden, the former vice president, while only 10 percent favored President Trump. 8 percent said they were undecided on which candidate they will select.

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