Rep. Marcia Fudge dismisses Donald Trump's pitch to minorities

Rep. Marcia Fudge

U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge fired back this week against comments Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump made in Akron about living conditions in minority communities.

"Look," Trump said Monday at a rally at the University of Akron, "it's a disaster the way that African-Americans are living in many cases, and in many cases, the way Hispanics are living. And I say it with a deep-felt feeling."

"What do you have to lose?" Trump said, repeating a phrase he used last Saturday during a speech in Virginia. "I'll straighten it out. I'll bring the jobs back....We'll get rid of the crime. You'll be able to walk down the street without getting shot."

Fudge, a Democrat representing a Northeast Ohio district that stretches from Cleveland to Akron, forcefully maintained during a Aug. 23 conference call organized by Hillary Clinton's campaign that black Ohioans would not buy into Trump's offer.

"And no matter what Donald Trump thinks, he's still only going to get 1 percent of the black vote out of Ohio," said Fudge, a Clinton supporter.

Fudge outlined what she believes minorities have to lose if they vote for Trump — in very plain terms. Civility. Patriotism. The right to vote. Trump also described inner cities as war zones, according to the Washington Post, another remark Fudge derided.

"He asked what we have to lose. We have to lose the respect of the rest of the world, with the exception of possibly Russia," said Fudge, of Warrensville Heights. "We have an awful lot to lose, so I hope that I get an opportunity to answer that question if he comes back to my district."

Fudge noted that she lives "by choice" in a predominantly black city.

"It is not a war zone," she said. "My district is not a war zone. Do we have issues? Like every other district, like every other city, yes."

Trump delivered his remarks to a mostly white audience, a choice that Fudge found offensive.

The Trump campaign shot back, and said Democrats have failed to help people who live in inner cities.

"The Democratic Party has run nearly every inner city for half a century or more. They have produced only more poverty, failing schools, and broken homes. If you keep voting for the same failed politicians you will keep getting the same results. For those hurting the most – who have been failed again and again by their politicians – Mr. Trump asks, what do you have to lose by trying something new? But, most importantly, what do you have to gain?" Trump spokesman Seth Unger said.