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Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump with supporters after speaking at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on Jan. 2, 2016, in Biloxi, Miss.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Donald Trump’s rhetoric attracts an army of angry white people to his campaign rallies, but at the same time, he has tried to court the black vote. Can his policy positions balance the interests of the two groups? In The Root’s new series, Meet the Candidates, we take a closer look at where leading presidential candidates stand on issues that affect our community. Previously we examined Democratic contender Sen. Bernie Sanders; now here’s a look at the Republican front-runner.
Like other Republican candidates, Trump wants to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, which a majority of African Americans continue to support. But Trump has struggled to explain his own plan.
In a wide-ranging 60 Minutes interview, Trump was pressed to articulate a viable alternative to the act. His responses were vague, which a Huffington Post health care reporter described as “gibberish.”
Trump’s supporters expect the businessman to make America’s economy great again—which he promises to accomplish if elected.
It should come as no surprise that his economic plan does not include increasing the minimum wage. At the fourth GOP presidential debate, the billionaire said that wages are already too high. Following a wave of criticism, Trump said that his statement was misunderstood. What he meant to say is that the minimum wage should not be increased.
The real estate tycoon promises to “create jobs so that you don’t have to worry about the minimum wage.” He added that a low minimum wage “is not a bad thing for this country.”
His tax-reform plan is a centerpiece of his economic strategy. The goals of that strategy include passing tax cuts for the middle class and stimulating economic growth. But not everyone is convinced that Trump’s plan would work. A widely reported analysis by the Tax Policy Center (pdf) found that the wealthy would benefit the most from Trump’s proposed tax cuts, which could also increase the national debt.
Student-loan debt, a $1 trillion crisis, undermines the national economy and the efforts of individuals clawing their way into the middle class. Trump told voters at an Iowa town hall meeting that starting new “governmental programs” can make college more affordable, according to the Washington Examiner.
When asked for specifics, Trump said that those programs would involve refinancing and extensions. “We’re going to do something very big with loans because you have to get these people going,” he said. “They really feel down and out.”
Trump sees no need to pass more legislation to restrict gun purchases. “We need to get serious about prosecuting violent criminals,” his website states. Trump wants to get tough on drug dealers and gang members who are “given a slap on the wrist and turned loose on the street.”
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