Charles Blow Takes the Gloves Off With Trump—And It's Glorious

New York Times columnist Charles Blow is not having any of Trump's recent blatant pandering to black voters. None. Zilch.

Calling Trump's so-called black outreach, "the effort of a bigot to disguise his bigotry," Blow eviscerated Trump's craven dishonesty in telling black congregations he was not the bigot the media portrays him as.

"No sir, stop right there," Blow wrote in Monday's column. "We are not going to allow any deflection or redefining of words here. You are a bigot. That is not a media narrative or a fairy tale. That is an absolute truth. No one manufactured your bigotry; you manifested it. You have proudly brandished your abrasiveness, and now you want to whine and moan about your own abrasions. Not this day. Not the next day. Not ever. You will never shake the essence of yourself. Your soul is dark, your character corrupt. You are a reprobate and a charlatan who has ridden a wave of intolerance to its crest."

Strong stuff and undeniable. Blow lists a partial list of Trump's creations, such as being the chief birther against Obama, maligning Mexicans as rapists, slandering Muslims, disdaining women, mocking the disabled, praising dictators, and encouraging the assault of protesters.

Blow rightly points out that Trump knows he won't convince many black people of his good intentions. This cynical tour of black churches is more about making vaguely reasonable white people more comfortable with voting for him. See, he's not that racist! He talks with black folks.

What did he say to these (apparently mostly empty) pews? Made-up crap about how he was speaking from the heart and then the usual "Republican claptrap" about what ails black people. Blow:

Trump said, “I believe we need a civil rights agenda of our time, one that ensures the rights to a great education and the right to live in safety and in peace and to have a really, really great job, a good-paying job, and one that you love to go to every morning.”

Translation: I want to further weaken public education through more charters and vouchers. I want to flood your neighborhoods with more police because you can’t control yourselves. I want you to stop freeloading, get off welfare, and get a job.

This "pageant of diversity" is a sick charade, Blow warns. And it's brought to you by the standard-bearer of the party that is seeking to suppress the black vote. No one should be swayed by Trump's latest nonsense, and no one will be, unless they are somehow looking to be fooled.