A recent White House event can credit a good portion of its audience to Black conservative activist Candace Owens. She led a group of visitors to attend Trump’s event at the White House. Owens’s group dubbed “BLEXIT,” reportedly paid for the travel and lodging of some visitors.
What We Know:
- The name BLEXIT is a moniker meaning “Black Exit”. It is a new movement aimed towards Black voters in an effort to guide them should they leave the Democratic Party to become Republicans. The event on Saturday was the first to feature President Donald Trump after his COVID-19 diagnosis, which even landed him in the hospital for a few days. Mask usage and social distancing were not visibly enforced throughout.
“EVERYONE MUST BRING A MASK TO BE ALLOWED ENTRY ONTO THE WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS,” Owen’s campaign’s stated in a private email. “Absolutely no exceptions.”
- Despite the imposed requirement in the email, mask-wearing not one of the main requirements for entry to the event. It was said that attendees did, however, need to submit themselves to a mandatory COVID-19 screening prior to the event in the morning. This screening consisted of a temperature check and a very brief questionnaire.
- Many of the supporters that were in attendance at the South Lawn that day had also attended a prescheduled BLEXIT event by the name of “BLEXIT Back the Blue” in support of the country’s police officers. It was at the end of that gathering that the group then headed over to Trump’s larger outdoor rally.
- The BLEXIT campaign claims it used some of its funds to help guests that couldn’t afford to attend to go to the event. It is unknown how much money was used. This has led many people to believe that Owens and her sympathizers are merely being used as puppets to help boost Trump’s image with the African American community.
Supports on the South Lawn wait for @realDonaldTrump to makes remarks. pic.twitter.com/zfQ4Zp3To2
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) October 10, 2020
- Candace Owens made an Instagram post this past week, before Saturday’s event, that detailed her boredom with the way politics are being displayed at the moment. In the caption, she also promoted what she named a fake BLM narrative among liberals and were giving away “travel stipends” to people who wished to attend.
- Saturday marked nine days since Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, yet he still held a public rally on the White House lawn above a crowd filled with BLEXIT shirts and MAGA hats. In one of his addresses to the audience, he did condemn White suburbanites who don’t support the BLM movement.
As far as polling is concerned, Trump is having a very hard time having any support among registered Black voters. His Democratic rival Joe Biden has an impressive 88% to 9% lead against the current incumbent, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll late last month.
