Former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill struggled Wednesday to figure out why former President Donald Trump went to the National Association of Black Journalists, and in doing so, set his campaign aflame.
Speaking to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace, McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, questioned, "What did he think he was going to get?"
Trump kicked off the session by attacking it, refusing to answer questions, attacking the moderators, and questioning the legitimacy of Kamala Harris' race and identity.
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"He's trying to get votes," McCaskill explained of Trump's campaign.
The ex-president has tried to make inroads with Black men, thinking that they can pull away some voters of color supporting President Joe Biden. The New York Post claimed that Trump's plan was successful, but that was before Harris.
"What I'm trying to figure out is what votes did he think he was going to get, add to his MAGA base by doing what he did today?" McCaskill asked. "I can't imagine that he is so dumb that he thought he would add any Black votes by talking about Black jobs and saying what he said about the vice president."
Some analysts have claimed Trump was trying to appeal to his far-right base with racially charged language and attacks. McCaskill said his base is already well aware of Trump's views.
"They know he's one of many of them, agree with him about his less-than view of people that don't look like them," she said. "So, then the question: Is he trying to get us to talk about it? Is he so freaked out that he has not been dominating the airwaves for the last week that he was wanting to be so outrageous that we would sit here and talk about him today?"
She questioned if Trump was "really dumb," not knowing that he couldn't get any more MAGA votes than he already had.
"It certainly doesn't get him any of the votes he doesn't have. It certainly doesn't get him any Black votes. Or he is just that sick? You know, is he just that sick?" said McCaskill.
See the clip of her comments below or at the link here.
'Is he just that sick?' Ex-senator tries to figure out what Trump was thinking about Q&A youtu.be
