Source: Jeff Greenberg / Getty
Last week, Donald Trump and his pet “Black friends,” Ben Carson and Rep. Byron Donalds, showed Black America how little they actually know about Black people and how superficial their idea of reaching out to Black voters is when Donalds and Carson made an appearance at a Black barbershop in Atlanta and put Trump on the phone so he could whitesplain to Black people about how his support in the Black community has “skyrocketed” due to his mugshot—a delusion that he and his MAGA minions have been spreading for nearly a year. Now, the owner of the barbershop is claiming he was duped into booking Trump and his sunken place lackey, claiming he was under the impression that he was renting his barbershop out for a roundtable discussion for Black business owners, not an impromptu Trump rally hosted by two of his three favorite house slaves. (Tim Scott must have been sent to the field that day because somebody has to pick the cotton Trump sticks in his ears whenever someone tries to introduce facts into a discussion with him.)
Meet Rocky Jones, owner of Rocky’s Barbershop in Buckhead.
Jones is apparently regretting allowing himself to be filmed sitting next to Donalds, Carson and other assorted Black men looking dumb and dumbfounded as Trump can be heard over the speaker saying: “Since this has happened — the mugshot — the mugshot is the best ev- it just beat Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra by a lot by the way, beat ’em by a lot.”
“But that’s the number one mugshot of all time,” Trump continued.” It’s really an amazing thing. Since it happened, the support among the Black community and the Hispanic community has skyrocketed. It’s been amazing. Really it’s been amazing. It’s been actually very nice to see.”
See, this is how you know Trump doesn’t really view Black people as anything more than political pawns, and he relies on Black stereotypes to find what he erroneously believes is common ground with us. That type of backhanded white nonsense might work with his bigot brigade of MAGA constituents, but taking that narrative into a Black space will always be a fail, and he and Donalds would know that if either of them had actual “Black friends” in their lives. (Seriously, Trump is really out here talking about Elvis and Sinatra like they’re revered icons in the Black community, and as if their mugshots are as legendary to Black folks as, say, Malcolm and Martin’s.)
So, now that Jones and his shop have been dragged up and down social media and his business has been losing customers because of it, according to 11 Alive, he wants people to know he had no idea his shop would be the stage for the cringiest and most transparent bid to woo Black voters since he told a venue for Black conservatives: “The lights are so bright in my eyes I can’t see too many people out there. But I can only see the Black ones. I can’t see any white ones. That’s how far I’ve come.”
From 11 Alive:
Jones explained how the event came to be: it started with a text message, followed by a phone call while he was out of the country. He agreed to host what he thought would be a small, private gathering for Black small business owners.
Instead, the event turned into a crowded affair, with Trump surrogates like Ben Carson and a surprise phone call from Trump himself.
“I thought it was going to be something real private,” Jones said. “I’m thinking about Black businesses in Atlanta, small Black businesses in Atlanta. And I’m like, ‘Ok, so when are we gonna start talking about this?’”
The phone call from Trump was a shock. “I’m like, why is the ex-president calling somebody in my barbershop? This has nothing to do with small Black businesses.”
Jones said the fallout has been significant, with backlash from angry individuals who don’t know him.
“We had some calls Thursday. We definitely got some calls, some backlash, some angry people that don’t know me and I have to deal with that,” he said.
Jones emphasized that his barbershop is not a place for politics.
“I have no involvement in politics. We don’t even talk politics in my barbershop. It’s all sports. The World Cup, soccer, baseball, basketball – politics is not what I do. I commend everybody to vote, but that’s your business. ‘You know, I don’t tell you what to do,’” Jones added.
The number of customers at Rocky’s Barbershop has dwindled since the event, but Jones hopes the controversy will pass, allowing him to continue serving his community.
But wait—Black people love Trump, right? Nah, it must be “fake news” that Jones’ shop started hemorrhaging customers after one phone call from the ex-president, who couldn’t even be bothered to make an in-person appearance. (Instead, he sent his loyal servants to do their “Black jobs.”)
Unfortunately for Jones, many people on the socials are skeptical that he was unaware of what he had agreed to. Some of them even shared what appear to be receipts that Jones knew exactly what he was getting into.
After all, how exactly would Jones, the owner of the establishment, be so in the dark about what his business would be used for that up until the day of the event, he thought the Trump campaign stop was actually going to be a small gathering of Black business owners?
Yeah—he’s going to have a difficult time making that make sense.
SEE ALSO:
What Are ‘Black Jobs’? Trump’s Debate Claim About Immigrants Is Mocked, Questioned
