Source: The Washington Post / Getty
If there’s one thing that the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention confirmed to America, it’s that supporters of Donald Trump come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
And while the primary color of those aforementioned MAGA fanatics is not Black, there was still a relatively small handful of non-white Trump supporters who participated in the convention’s revelry on Monday.
Keep reading to find some of the Blackest scenes from Milwaukee as the Grand Old Party holds the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The Republican National Convention is being held in Milwaukee from Monday to Thursday, and the party of the elephant already on the first day accomplished much, including nominating Trump for president and revealing that his running mate would be Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
When it turned nighttime, a parade of MAGAts took to the stage to declare their unwavering commitment and loyalty to a man who was recently convicted of 34 felony criminal counts.
It was in that context that five of the seven total Black people tapped by Republicans to speak at the RNC this week delivered their speeches on Monday night, and all of them made an effort to downplay racism in America — if not dismiss it altogether — while propping up Trump as the president that America needs most.
Those speeches were given by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and Michigan Rep. John James.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, who just months ago handed in his lifelong Democrat card in exchange for membership to the Republican Party, and former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson are the only remaining Black people expected to speak during the remainder of the convention.
Amber Rose also spoke on Monday night, but she has gone out of her way to declare that she does not identify with a Black woman — despite her using Black culture to achieve fame — so she was not factored in the above list of Black speakers.
Notably, during Rep. James’ address, the Republican Congressman expressed nostalgia for Trump’s policies when he was president and took a cheap shot — if not a disingenuous one — at President Barack Obama.
That, somehow, prompted James to blurt out: “If you don’t vote Donald Trump, you ain’t Black.”
The moment quickly went viral on social media, but perhaps not for the reasons James may have intended.
Scroll down to find more of the Blackest scenes at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
1. North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson
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North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson spoke at the RNC one week after he seemed to call for the kind of political violence that Trump barely dodged at a rally in Pennsylvania last weekend.
The GOP gubernatorial candidate and the state’s first Black lieutenant governor said from a church pulpit that “some folks need killing” in reference to alleged violent criminals who haven’t yet been granted due process and “liberals” who are simply of a different ideology.
On Monday night,
2. Where’s Waldo?
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Black RNC attendees were hard to find, but they were there.
3. They dressed up too
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Alvin Portee Jr. cheers during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024.
4. Byron Donalds hung out with Tucker Carlson
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Donalds, who had just learned earlier in the day that all of his shucking and jiving on the campaign trial in hopes of being Trump’s running mate were all for naught, cozied up to open racist and white supremacist Tucker Carlson. Good times.
5. A sobering truth
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An actor performs during a Climate Power art installation highlighting climate fallout from big oil at the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee.
6. Yee haw!
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Delegates cheer at Fiserv Forum.
7. Amber Rose
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No, Amber Rose isn’t Black, but you’d be forgiven for assuming she was since the Black culture she has attached herself to for more than a decade propelled her to pop culture stardom. The recent MAGA convert was widely commended for her speech that defended Trump from accusations of racism — an apparent theme on Monday night — and didn’t include anything of any real substance.
8. Tim Scott
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Like Byron Donalds, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott also tapdanced for Trump in quashed hopes to be elected as his vice presidential candidate. On Monday, he took to the RNC stage and, per usual, showed all his teeth and the white in his eyes while all but declaring Trump to be his savior. It was all very on-brand for Scott.
9. RNC protesters
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Nadine Seiler attends a rally with the Coalition to March on the RNC east of the Republican National Convention hosted at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July, 15, 2024.
10. Poor People’s Army march
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People participate in a Poor People’s Army march towards Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee.
11. Florida, Florida, Florida
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A Florida delegate is seen on the floor of the Fiserv Forum on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024.
12. Black Trump supporters are a thing
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Republican Party supporters arrive at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
