Genesee News

Despite being ridiculed and threatened, Maurice Davis, vice president of the Flint City Council, is sticking with his endorsement of President Donald Trump. 

"Ninety-one percent of black folks vote Democrat blindly. I vote for what's going to benefit me and my constituency, whether they know it or not," Davis told the host of WJR's "The Frank Beckmann Show." "I'm a true leader. Why would I go out of my way to vote for you if I'm not getting nothing in return?"

Davis said he became impressed with the president during his first campaign in 2016, when Trump came to visit the "poor side" of Flint during the water crisis.

Maurice Davis, Coucil Member | City of Flint

"For a presidential candidate to have that kind of concern, 'cause most of the time when Obama came, they always come to the downtown area and different places, but he (Trump) came straight to where the crisis was," he told Beckmann.

Since Trump has been in office, he's continued to gain Davis' respect. Davis said he doesn't know how the narrative labeling Trump as a racist came about, but he feels confident that Trump isn't a racist. But Davis believes poor people are being manipulated by what he called "the powers that be" only to get their vote.

"We have the blind leading the blind. I've been a Democrat all my life, and all my life I've been in poverty," Davis told Beckmann. "So how may more years do I need to be in poverty before I need to say, 'wait a minute, wake up, something's wrong'?"

Davis noted that he'd be worried about the repercussions, including property damage, that he'd likely endure should he put out a Trump sign on his lawn.  

"I should be able to vote for who I want to and not be dictated to who I want to vote for, and a lot of black people are feeling just like I am," he said to Beckmann. "They get intimidated."

Even so, he'll continue to support the president because "he loves America and so do I."