Kathleen Gray

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

When Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump comes to Detroit this weekend to try to strengthen his standing in the African-American community, he will be attending a service at a church and doing a one-on-one interview with the congregation's leader, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson.

That's about it.

Trump won't be speaking to the black congregation at Great Faith Ministries International during the 11 a.m. service. And his Saturday interview with Jackson on the church's Impact Network — which will not be open to the public or the news media — won't air for at least a week after the event.

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Trump's first foray as a presidential candidate into a church of African Americans was initially billed as a speech to the congregation to lay out his policies that impact minorities, followed by the interview with Jackson.

"He’ll be here Saturday. He’s going to sit in service and have the experience in the black church, and then he and I will be in this office and do an interview for the Impact Network that will be aired later on," Jackson said. "Just like any visitor, there will be fellowship at the service, and he can talk to people one-on-one."

Jackson said he wasn't disappointed that Trump won't be speaking directly to the voters in his congregation. He said his interview was the same thing.

"My congregation trusts my judgment. They know that I’m not going to put anything or anyone in front of them that I feel is going to be harmful, and I feel we should have an educated conversation about what you’re going to do," he said.

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"He will be talking to voters just like when he sits down with any news agency, like CNN. Every time he’s on Fox or MSNBC, he’s talking to voters."

There may be a private meeting with a small group of church-goers, but it wasn't clear whether it would be open to the news media. The Trump campaign declined to confirm details of the visit or any other events in Michigan for Saturday.

State Sen. Coleman Young, D-Detroit, said that if Trump wants to court the black vote, he has to actually talk to black people.

"Don’t insult them or belittle them," he said. "You should allow people to ask questions. But I think their concern is that you’re going to have a lot of people coming in there and having intense fellowship or protesters."

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said coming to Detroit is a natural fit for any candidate, "but I think Detroiters will let him know that there are a lot of people in this country being marginalized. You can’t erase it all by showing up one day and say you didn’t mean it." He said he thinks the candidate "marginalizes huge groups in this country who aren’t rich and who don’t look like him."

Jackson, who formed the Impact Network — which has a reach of 50 million homes, according to its website — with his wife, Beverly Jackson, in 2010, said his first question to Trump will be, "Are you a Christian?" He said he also plans to ask Trump if he's a racist, "because so many people think that’s what you are."

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There has been push

"His candidacy has stirred up a lot of emotions with people saying he’s a racist, and people saying, 'I don’t want to hear him' and 'How could you bring him here,' " he said. "He’s coming to be interviewed. This is not a Trump rally. This is an opportunity for a dialogue."

The church and the Impact Network have hosted a variety of influential political guests, but most have been Democrats. Jackson said he has been voting for Democrats all of his life, but feels that if a candidate is going to talk about the African-American community, he or she should walk the walk.

Trump's message "has not connected. ... He needs to come to African-American communities," he said. "You can’t talk to African Americans in white venues."

The visit comes as Trump has been trying to attract black voters by asking: "What in the hell do you have to lose?" He has repeated the message at rallies in Michigan and around the country in the last two weeks.

The challenge for Trump — and other Republicans — is that African-American voters widely support Democrats. In 2008, Detroit gave 97% of its vote to Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain. In 2012, the black vote was 98% for Obama to 2% for Mitt Romney. There were dozens of polling precincts — mostly in Detroit — where not a single vote was cast for Romney in 2012.

The visit would be Trump's third to Michigan since the Republican National Convention. He gave a speech on the economy to the Detroit Economic Club this month and was in Dimondale last week. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gave a jobs and economy speech in Warren and attended a fund-raiser in Birmingham this month. She also spoke at the NAACP's Fight for Freedom dinner in Detroit in May and made stops at Detroit churches before the March 8 presidential primary in Michigan.

Contact Kathleen Gray: kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal