GOP front-runner Donald Trump said Monday that he thinks "some of the Black Lives Matter" folks were behind a group of African-American pastor's decision to back off making an endorsement on his campaign.
"I was told it was an endorsement," Trump told
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "I think what happened . . . probably publicity, probably some of the Black Lives Matter folks called them up and said, 'you shouldn't be meeting with Trump, because he believes all lives matter, very strongly.'"
Trump plans to meet at his Manhattan offices on Monday with about 100 black evangelical pastors, but on Sunday, campaign officials nixed plans for a press conference following the meeting after several pastors publicly raised concerns that their attendance at the meeting was being mistaken as an endorsement.
Trump said that Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders also say all lives matter, like him, but then Sanders went "into a shell" and then came back saying "oh, black lives matter."
"He was a disgrace," Trump said of the Vermont senator. "I think what happened is a lot of pressure was put on him."
Trump said he does not know what will happen in Monday's meeting, but told the show that he has "a great relationship with the black pastors. I know many of them; we'll see what happens . . . I don't know if it's an endorsement or an endorsement by some. I have fantastic relationships with the people, but I think pressure was put on them."
The meeting is coming about a week after a cell phone video went viral of a Black Lives Matter protester shown tussling with a handful of the billionaire's supporters during a Nov. 21 rally in Birmingham, Alabama.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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