Mediaboss Marketing

Ronna Romney McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, came to Detroit Monday to try and reach out and and attract African-American voters to the GOP. Wochit

Michigan Republican Party chairman Ron Weiser and Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel came to Detroit Monday to reach out to African American voters(Photo: Kathleen Gray/Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo

The timing couldn't have been more awkward.

Ronna Romney McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, came to Detroit on Monday to try toreach out and and attract African-American voters to the GOP.

But her visit came 48 hours after a violent and deadly weekend of rioting in Charlottesville, Va., where white supremacists and neo-Nazis gathered to protest the removal of a statute of Confederate Gen.Robert E. Lee.

More: Groups rally in Detroit, Ann Arbor after deadly Virginia protest

Their confrontations with protesters of their movement culminated with an Ohio man driving his car through a crowd of protesters, killing a woman and injuring 34 others.

Unlike many politicians in both the Republican and Democratic parties who condemned the violence and the white supremacists who sparked it, President Donald Trump denounced the violence from "many sides" and refused to call out the white nationalists by name.

Trump was widely criticized for his lack of a more forceful denunciation of the instigators.

More: Ex-Michigan Congressman John Dingell's response to Charlottesville goes viral

So when Romney McDaniel stepped into a state Republican Party office in Detroit, she forcefully renounced the actions of the weekend, but declined to criticize Trump.

"As chairman of the Republican Party, I want to be perfectly clear that white supremacy, neo-Nazis, theKKK,hate speech and bigotry arenot welcome and does not have a home in the Republican Party," she said during a meeting with about two dozen African-American voters.

She added that Trump'scomments on Saturday showthat "hate is unacceptable, bigotry is unacceptable. That defines whatwhite supremacy stands for. And today hell address those in a more specific way now that we know more of what happened on the ground."

Later Monday, Trump was more forceful, saying, "Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans."

Plenty of people werent convinced of the sincerity of Trumps comments Monday.

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, tweeted: The President of the United States should not have to be publicly shamed into condemning neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

Also read:

President Trump condemns white supremacists after Charlottesville violence

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser echoed Romney McDaniel's comments about Charlottesville, saying, "Extremists who inciteviolence do not speak for me nor do they speak for the Michigan Republican Party. Together we can fight against racism and hatred. If we do that, we honor the best part of America."

He added a quote from civil rights icon Dr. MartinLuther King Jr.: "I've decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

Gov. Rick Snyder also weighed in on the violence,saying,"History has shown time and again that hate begets hate and violence begets violence. On the other hand, unity and cooperation have shown how much we can accomplish when we respect our neighbors, embrace our differences and focus our energy on how we can all move forward and prosper together. Hate speech and violence are not welcome in Michigan."

If Romney McDaniel and Weiser came to Detroit looking for votes, the national and state Republican parties will have an uphill climb. Their main weakness in Michigan lies in Wayne and Oakland counties,where Democrats have been making gains over the last decade. And in Detroit, Hillary Clinton swamped Trump by a 95-3% margin in last year's election.

The two party leaders said the lopsided political environment in the state won't deter them.

"I measure success in more ways than just 95-3," Romney McDaniel said. "It's coming into a room as a Republican and saying how have we engaged in your community and how have welistened and how have we expanded our footprint. That's what the Michigan Republican Party has done. It's more about building relationshipsand showing up in communities that haven't seen Republicans here for far too long."

Weiser told the group, "If you give us a chance, we're going to give you a choice. For far too long, Democrats have taken urban centers for granted and truthfully, Republicansare not reaching out to the extent that we should. We're trying to change that."

While Weiser and Romney McDaniel allowed reporters in for a few questions and their opening remarks, they shooed the media out of the meeting when discussions with the African-American voters began.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430 or kgray99@freepress.com

President Donald Trump said Saturday there was "no place" in the United States for the kind of violence that broke out at a white nationalist rally in Virginia and appealed to Americans to "come together as one." (Aug. 12) AP

Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/2w42khN

Continue reading here:
Republicans try to win over African-American voters in Detroit - Detroit Free Press