Why a Former Black Panther Party Leader Is Supporting Trump

Matt Vespa | June 06, 2024 6:00 AM

Donald Trump is getting support from former leaders of the Black Panther Party. A leader of the organization is hopping onto the MAGA train, calling the former president an ally to the African American community. David Hilliard added that Trump was a decent man, too. These character assessments aren’t from the past few years. Mr. Hilliard has known the former president since the 1960s (via Newsweek):

BREAKING: Black Panthers founding member David Hilliard is backing Donald Trump for president, calling him an “ally of the black population.” pic.twitter.com/cVsDk0v0b0
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) June 4, 2024

In a video posted on TikTok, Hilliard called Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, a "decent man" and a "friend to African Americans." Hillard said he knew Trump when he was a college student in New York City.
"Trump is a person who's a decent man, and he supported the Black Panther Party," Hilliard said. "He was someone who gave us money."
He added: "Trump's a friend of African Americans, and I knew Trump from the 1960s in New York, where he comes from, and he's a friend to African Americans... I mean he's not a racist. He's not a racist, fascist, white man. He supported Black people."
Hilliard also alleged that Trump, who has long faced accusations of racism, had been convicted in New York because of his fondness for the Black community.

Oh, the magazine couldn’t let this go without bringing up the death penalty calls Trump made against the Central Park Five or the birth certificate controversy involving Barack Obama. There were also the allegations that Trump discriminated against potential black buyers of apartments—all of this is detailed later in the piece. Of course, this had to be said because the Left continues to paint the former president as a racist for wanting law and order and a secure southern border.