I’m at a loss to think of a single Black person who is better off because of their association with Donald Trump. Herschel Walker is the Ambassador to The Bahamas after failing spectacularly in his bid to become a U.S. Senator. He is the laughingstock of the Republican Party and is now publicly known for threatening women and lies about finishing college, being in the top 1% of his class. There's also the cap claim that he was an F.B.I. agent. Ben Carson was famous and respected before joining Trump; now, he’s just famous.
Newcomers like Byron Donalds have sacrificed their names and have yet to benefit. Then again, he was once a drug dealer and is playing with house money.
There are many more supporters of Trump with melanin. He did win the popular vote. LEVEL does some recognizance on his most popular Stans.
Stacey Dash
Stacey Dash achieved popularity/notoriety for a few years, which she hadn’t achieved since co-starring in the movie Clueless. She was a regular contributor on Fox News, supporting Trump and denouncing Black causes. She denied voter suppression, attacked Black Lives Matter, and came out on the wrong side of every issue involving race.
Dash looked good until she got fired from Fox News for cursing on-air while talking about former President Obama. IMO, it was no coincidence she was fired just two days after Agent Orange's inauguration in 2017. Fox contributors have said and done worse. Hannity and Laura Ingraham aided in an attempt to overthrow the government, and they’re still around.
The Bronx native went into a downward spiral after that, hitting bottom when she was arrested in 2019 for domestic assault after physically attacking her fourth husband. This came after a failed 2018 run for Congress. She withdrew after only a month.
Stacey is currently trying to reinvent herself. In an interview with the Daily Mail, she said she’d had a drug habit costing over $10,000 a month and half-apologized for saying some things incorrectly. Maybe she will take back calling for the end of Black History Month and B.E.T. She was last seen talking about herself in the third person while trying to find her Black card:
“There are things that I am sorry for. Things that I did say, that I should not have said the way I said them. They were very arrogant and prideful, and angry. And that’s who Stacey was, but that’s not who Stacey is now. Stacey’s someone who has compassion, empathy.”
Herman Cain
With all sincerity, I liked Herman Cain. Several years before his ill-fated run for President and stint as a right-wing radio personality, I met him on the golf course. I was invited at the last second to fill out a foursome, including the then-CEO of Godfather’s Pizza.
When I met Herman, he was kind, funny, and humble despite having reached heights in business that few do. We did not discuss politics, but I came away from our interaction with a genuine fondness for the man.
Later, during Trump’s run for the Presidency in 2016, Cain was best known as a Black face, saying Trump wasn’t a racist. He attacked the policies and accomplishments of President Barack Obama and made it easier for those who knew Trump’s documented history of racial discrimination to pretend it wasn’t so,
After Trump won, Herman settled in on the right-wing chicken dinner circuit. He was a Black man who supported Trump; Cain was friendly and could get along with anyone. When the time came to support Trump at a campaign rally in Tulsa, he answered the call.
During the height of COVID-19, Cain attended a crowded, mostly maskless rally, which resulted in hundreds of people contracting the virus. Herman was diagnosed days later and, after months of treatment, succumbed to the disease. He showed the ultimate measure of devotion, paying an unnecessary price.
We’ll never know if Herman would still support Trump based on everything we know. That support likely cost him his life. He remains a cautionary tale for anti-vaxxers and mask opponents.
Ben Carson
Ben Carson was known for his achievements in the medical world long before he embraced right-wing politics and Donald Trump. He was the first to perform surgery to separate conjoined twins. His story was celebrated in the movie Gifted Hands, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. Carson was a hero in the Black community, and a Detroit school was named after him, the Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine.
Dr. Carson was a brilliant individual who somehow lost his way. His support of Trump allowed him to try a new career; he was Trump’s sole Black Cabinet Member, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Carson had no qualifications for the job; he was best known for nepotism and buying expensive furniture during his term. Sadly, the Detroit school board was so ashamed of him that they took his name off of the school building that once honored his accomplishments.
Carson was last seen heading the American Cornerstone Institute, which appears to be fighting the evil of Critical Race Theory. Carson’s group will provide a “true history” devoid of ideology.
Pastor Darrell C. Scott
Unless you lived in Cleveland, Ohio, you might not have heard of Pastor Darrell C. Scott, co-founder of the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights. Scott is also the co-founder of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump, along with disgraced former Trump attorney Michael Cohen who went to jail after paying off porn star Stormy Daniels for the current president.
Pastor Scott purported to lead a group of 100 Black Pastors who met with Trump. Scott made it appear as if the group endorsed Trump (they didn’t), and he helped Donald fend off claims of being racist. Scott also formed and headed the Urban Revitalization Coalition. That group received a $238,000 grant from Trump First Policies; Scott used some money to pay Black people to attend Trump-related events to make it look like he had more Black support than he did.
Scott made the rounds on Fox News and other right-wing media. He started his radio network and published articles supporting Trump in those outlets that would have him. Scott was there for any Trump photo-op, hoping it would translate to his prosperity; it did not.
As a result of not filing the IRS forms required of non-profits, the IRS revoked the status of the Urban Revitalization Coalition. A closer look into their dealings revealed dissatisfaction with the group, and there needs to be evidence they engaged in any urban revitalization.
A Martin Luther King Jr. Day giveaway event was planned for Virginia Union University, a historically black school, in Richmond, Virginia. But the event was canceled after the school’s president claimed Scott’s group had engaged in bait-and-switch. Scott had promised an “economic development discussion,” but fliers for the event said it would honor Trump and Jared Kushner.”
Things weren’t much better at home either; Scott and his wife were evicted after falling behind over $500,000 in rent. Part of his rationale for missing payments was a reduction of tithes following a conspiracy against himself and other Black conservatives for backing Trump. He claims he now drives a 9-year-old car and has fallen on hard times.
In May of 2022, Scott’s conscience forced him to criticize the right wing for its failure to condemn a mass shooting in Buffalo in a Black grocery store and its failure to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse.
Scott continues to host a Saturday radio show called SmackDown on America’s Voice app.
Diamond and Silk
Ineitha Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway and Herneitha Rochelle “Silk” Richardson were a couple of Black ladies on their grind, hustling Trump supporters out of their money. They make no pretense of being policy experts, and anyone using them as a reference would have exposed themselves as idiots.
The two made their money off YouTube and selling unlicensed merchandise supporting themselves and Trump. I picture them following Twitter and Fox News to determine what they can talk or tweet about.
Like Stacey Dash before them, Diamond and Silk were fired from Fox News for spreading false news about the coronavirus. Imagine all the false statements on Fox News about the coronavirus, and only Diamond and Silk get fired?
In a tweet, Silk asked their followers to “pray for Diamond.” We all need prayer, so I won’t begrudge them that, but the prayers of Trump followers didn’t work.
Diamond died from heart failure. People are desperate to say it wasn’t from COVID-19, a disease that kills more Republicans than Democrats. Ask yourself why? Diamond and Silk claimed that “mask mandates were the new Jim Crow.” Donald Trump did attend Daimond’s Celebration of Life, so there’s that.
Omarossa
Omarosa wrote a book, married a well-to-do pastor, and won a $1.3 million lawsuit against Donald Trump over legal fees related to a lawsuit alleging she violated a non-disclosure agreement. She might not get a job hosting a show on a major television network, but others have come away far worse.
Former Trump Senior Advisor Katrina Pierson got into a war of words and tweets with Omarosa after the January 6th committee subpoenaed Pierson.
“Not only was Katrina one of the organizers, but she was behind the money, you know, and every scandal, it’s always ‘follow the money," said Omarosa. "And because she was so involved with raising money and organizing the events, I believe the committee is right in subpoenaing her. Katrina should be very concerned, and we’ll see what happens, but the committee is on the right track.”
Pierson responded on Twitter: “Most people with a brain have become skilled with my name in their mouths because I have excellent defamation attorneys. This charade will add more wins to their belts.”
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium. And if you dig his words, buy the man a coffee.