Forbes has deleted an article musing about whether or not former President Donald Trump will use surviving an assassination attempt to help him win over more black voters.
The article was titled “Will Surviving Gunfire Be Donald Trump’s Next Appeal To Black Voters?” and was written by contributor Shaun Harper, a tenured professor described by Forbes as a “DEI expert.”
The link to the article now reads, “We can’t find the page that you are looking for,” across the top.
Unfortunately for Forbes, the internet is forever, and the article was archived many times before it was removed.
The article read in part:
Will Trump seize the apparent assassination attempt against him as an opportunity to meaningfully address the epidemic of gun violence in America? Will he deem unacceptable the dangers to which citizens are exposed as they go to schools, places of religious worship, concerts, movie theaters, supermarkets, shopping malls, sporting events, and now, presidential campaign rallies? It’s possible, but unlikely.
“And the Blacks, they love me because they know the terrifying sound of gunshots,” isn’t a claim that Trump has actually made. Hopefully he doesn’t. But it isn’t at all unthinkable. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has repeatedly contended that the August 2023 release of his criminal mugshot deeply resonated with Black voters because they know firsthand the unfairness of our nation’s criminal justice system. He has since relied on that narrative to persuade more Black Americans to cast votes for him this November. More Black men now than four years ago say they’re voting for Trump this time, but not many of them say they’re planning to do so because of any notion of shared kinship with judicial injustice.
Immediately after shots were fired, Trump fell and then secret service agents rushed to his side. He was down just over one minute. As the agents lifted him and he stood again, Trump looked into the crowd and raised his fist.
In his biography at the bottom of the article, Harper boasts, “My work has included advising executives on DEI strategy and coaching leaders, as well as designing and delivering high-quality professional learning experiences for employees across all levels.”
Harper continued, “Foundations have invested $22.2 million into my diversity, equity, and inclusion research, and I have procured an additional $18.5 million for my center at USC.”