Van Jones, a black former Maoist who comments for CNN, has become a believer in President Trump's bid to win over African American voters.
"Warning to Democrats: what he was saying to African Americans can be effective," Jones said following the State of the Union address Tuesday. "You may not like it, but he mentioned HBCUs [historically black colleges and universities]. Black colleges have been struggling for a long time, a bunch of them have gone under. He threw a lifeline to them in real life in his budget. We've got to wake up, folks, there's a whole bubble thing that goes on. We say, 'well, he said "s-hole nations"; therefore, all black people are going to hate him forever.' That ain't necessarily so. I think what you're going to see him do, you may not like my rhetoric, but look at my results and my record for black people. If he narrowly casts that, it's going to be effective."
Jones sees a potential electoral debacle for his party in November. And he's hardly alone these days.
Do you wonder why Democrats sat on their hands during the State of the Union? It could be that they're looking at recent polls by Emerson and Rasmussen that put likely black voters at between 34% and 42% approval of Trump.
Some say that is touching the magic number for "game over" in 2020 – and Trump appears to be just getting started. Remember, almost every black who votes Republican is worth two votes – one former Democrat and one new Republican.
It could be the start of something big. Before John F. Kennedy's election, most blacks were attracted to Republican candidates and shunned the "Dixiecrat" Democrats. Trump is planning much more this year.
During the Super Bowl, Trump's campaign spent millions of dollars on a commercial featuring an African American woman who had a drug sentence commuted by the president.
"Politicians talk about criminal-justice reform," the ad said. "President Trump got it done."
At the State of the Union, Trump celebrated the low unemployment rate among African Americans, talked of urban development zones, honored one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen and awarded a black fourth-grader from Philadelphia, Janiyah Davis, with a school-choice scholarship.
Surprisingly, Democrats sat on their hands through it all.
Now the president is running newspaper and radio ads in black media markets. Ads encourage people to text "woke" to receive updates. The Trump campaign is also training activists to engage and register voters, according to a person familiar with the strategy.
Everywhere you look at Trump rallies, there are black Americans – including Iowa! It's not simply Kanye West anymore, or Diamond & Silk, or Candace Owens beating Trump's drums.
This is no gimmick – and it's not just pandering to a single overlooked constituency. Trump is on the way to doing the same thing with Hispanics, women and Asians. It's like he says: "What the hell do you have to lose?"
This is why the Democrats are down in the dumps. This is why they are unanimous on impeachment, taking seriously Rep. Al Green of Texas, a members of the Congressional Black Caucus who famously said, "If we don't impeach this president, he will get reelected."
At this stage in the game, it appears Congressman Green's worst fear will be realized – with the help of millions of African American voters.