"No group in America has been more harmed by Hillary Clinton's policies than African Americans," he said, apparently pointing to individuals in the crowd. "No group. No group. If Hillary Clinton's goal was to inflict pain to the African American community, she could not have done a better job. It is a disgrace."

"Look at how much African American communities are suffering from Democratic control. To those I say the following: What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump? What do you have to lose?" he asked. "You live in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?"


Consider: Black Americans are not "living in poverty" as a general rule. A quarter of the black population is, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, about the same as the percentage of Hispanics. In Michigan, the figure is slightly higher. Most black Americans don't live in poverty, just as most white Americans don't.


Democrats win the support of black voters consistently because those voters like the work that they do and like the fights that they fight.

The GOP nominee is a master of suggestion and apophasis, of saying things while claiming not to say them. When making an outrageous or patently false statement, Trump is usually careful to grant himself some distance from his own remarks, often by way of murky attribution. After all, one of his favorite phrases is “a lot of people are saying…”

By not specifying what he is sorry for, Trump apologizes for everything and nothing at the same time. The candidate has insulted so many people since launching his campaign last year that it’s impossible to say who he has in mind when he speaks of regret. Think of it this way: Given its vagueness, who among the offended could claim Trump’s apology as their own?