Trump backer apologizes for Clinton blackface tweet
Pastor Mark Burns speaks at a Donald Trump rally in Oklahoma City, OK. (Photo by David Terry, The Vista)
Mark Burns, an African-American pastor and surrogate for Donald Trump, apologized Monday night and again Tuesday for tweeting a cartoon of Hillary Clinton in blackface.
But he said he still stood by his message that Clinton and Democrats pander to the African-American community.
“The last thing I want to do is to offend people. The tweet was not designed to anger or stir up the pot like it did. It was designed to bring how I feel, a very real reality, as to why the Democratic Party, and how I view it and how I interpret it, have been pandering and have been using Black people just for their votes,” Burns said in remarks on Periscope Monday night. ”The last thing I want to do is to anger people, I really am a unifier.”
“I’m going to apologize for the offensive picture that many thought was offensive, but I’m not apologizing for the message that it was carrying,” Burns said.
Tuesday morning Burns apologized again via Twitter.
The original tweet, which no longer appears on his timeline, included a meme of Clinton in blackface with a T-shirt that says “No hot sauce no peace!” The image, captured in a screenshot posted by CBS News, also shows her holding a sign that says #@!*6′ the police.
A thought bubble shows the cartoon version of Clinton thinking: “I ain’t no ways tired of pandering to African Americans.”
“Black Americans, THANK YOU FOR YOUR VOTES and letting me use you again.. See you again in 4 years,” Burns tweeted with the picture.
As Trump has attempted to expand his outreach to Black voters in recent weeks, he has enlisted the help of Burns, an evangelical televangelist.
On Saturday, Trump will speak at an African-American church in Detroit. The GOP nominee will also be interviewed by Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, which will air on an African-American owned and operated Christian TV network.
By Eliza Collins, US TODAY
