Elections

County Campaign Chair for Trump Makes a lot of Racist Statements in Ohio, Resigns

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A white Trump county campaign chairwoman in Ohio said there was no racism before Obama became president and that black people who haven’t succeeded in the past 50 years only have themselves to blame. On Thursday she resigned from her position. In an interview with the Guardian, Kathy Miller, a volunteer campaign chair in Mahoning County, literally said:

If you’re black and you haven’t been successful in the last 50 years, it’s your own fault. You’ve had every opportunity, it was given to you.

She followed up with this gem:

You’ve had the same schools everybody else went to. You had benefits to go to college that white kids didn’t have. You had all the advantages and didn’t take advantage of it. It’s not our fault, certainly.

She also said that the Black Lives Matter movement is a “stupid waste of time.” Her comments are very untimely since the county she has been campaigning in is a historically Democratic one and no Republican President has won the presidential election without winning Ohio.

However, several thousands Democrats there have switched party affiliation leading up to the 2016 election. According to Miller, most of the people switching over are older and white. But she didn’t think that matters since she claims that African-American voters make up such a small portion of the voter population. “I don’t think that’s part of the way they’re raised,” she said. “For us, I mean, that was something we all did in our families, we all voted.”

But since African-Americans make up 16 percent of the population in Mahoning County, maybe she should worry. For the past two elections black citizens have voted at a higher proportion than white citizens.

Miller also blamed racism on Obama, saying she had never seen racism before he became president.

Growing up as a kid, there was no racism, believe me. We were just all kids going to school […] I don’t think there was any racism until Obama got elected. We never had problems like this… Now, with the people with the guns, and shooting up neighborhoods, and not being responsible citizens, that’s a big change, and I think that’s the philosophy that Obama has perpetuated on America.

George Takei had something to say about Kathy Miller.

And many people on Twitter pointed out how the reporter had to try to keep a straight face during the interview.

Later on Thursday the Trump campaign released a statement apologizing for Miller’s statements and saying that county chairs are not spokespeople for the whole campaign.

To make things even worse, Miller expressed no remorse at all when later asked by NBC about what she had said, but said she didn’t understand how her remarks were racist.

I’m thinking, ‘What did I say that was racist?’ I didn’t murder anybody, I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t steal from anybody, I didn’t call them a liar — what did I say that was racist, other than you should take responsibility for yourself? But that’s not racism … I don’t know, maybe I’m clueless.

She continued defending her previous statements but said they had more to do with the concept of discrimination than racism.

Good riddance, Kathy Miller, your 15 minutes of fame are hopefully up.

Emma Von Zeipel
Emma Von Zeipel
Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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