Donald Trump speaks at the Shale Insight Conference on Sept. 22 in Pittsburgh. | AP Photo Trump blames 'drugs' for Charlotte unrest The candidate’s planned outreach to black voters hit a snag when he went off script to suggest drugs were fueling chaotic protests after a police shooting.

PITTSBURGH — Attempting to strike a unifying, presidential tone while commenting Thursday about urban unrest in Charlotte, Donald Trump veered temporarily off-script and attributed the violence — without offering any evidence — to drugs.

"If you're not aware, drugs are a very, very big factor in what you're watching on television," he said.


Following a night of wall-to-wall cable coverage of the violent protests in response to another police shooting of an African-American man, the Republican presidential nominee aimed to square his law-and-order philosophy with his eleventh-hour outreach efforts to the country's African-American communities.

Trump, who trails Hillary Clinton by approximately 80 percent points among African-American voters, explained that his promise to restore order to cities plagued by racial tensions is an effort to protect disproportionately affected minority communities.

"There is no compassion in tolerating lawless conduct. Crime and violence is an attack on the poor, and will never be accepted in a Trump Administration," he said at the beginning of remarks to the Shale Insight Convention.

"Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the violent disrupter, but to make life more comfortable for the African-American parent trying to raise their kids in peace, to walk their children to school and to get their children a great education. We have to cherish and protect those people."

Trump's stated concern is of a piece with his recent visits to African-American churches in Detroit and Flint and his stumping in Ohio Wednesday with boxing promoter Don King, who vouched for the candidate's character.

But his ad-libbed comment blaming drugs for these violent uprisings seemed to validate stereotypes about black communities — seemingly supporting the criticism that Trump's larger outreach effort to African-American voters is really an attempt to convince moderate Republican women that he isn't a racist.

As he often does, Trump praised police officers for risking their lives but acknowledged, as he did on Wednesday, that their judgment in pressure situations is not infallible.

"Police are entrusted with immense responsibility, and we must do everything we can to ensure they are properly trained, that they respect all members of the public, and that any wrongdoing is always vigorously addressed," Trump said.

"But our men and women in blue also need our support, our thanks, and our gratitude. They are the line separating civilization from total chaos."