The Democratic Party is a group of tricksters. Consider this: the party of Jim Crow managed to recast themselves as the paragon of racial equality during the tumultuous 1960s, while still supporting the economic programs that impoverished minorities. They then convinced a majority of African-Americans that Republicans were their true oppressors! It is no wonder, then, that Michael Walsh has determined that Democrats today are aligned with the “Satanic Left.”

Lies, deceit, manipulation, these are the ways of Satan—and the Democratic Party.

Not to worry though, the Republican Party dutifully shut itself off from the African-American community in the face of criticism from the Left. In effect, the GOP’s quisling leadership convinced itself that, on some level, the Left was correct in its claims about the Right’s “inherent racism.” Rather than take to the battlefield of ideas, “conservatives” like these chose instead to cut the party’s losses, and allow its enemies to define it (hey, so long as we get more tax cuts and foreign interventions, who cares, right?).

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump—the man the Left painted as the most despicable person to run for the presidency in generations (not since the racist über alles, Woodrow Wilson perhaps?)—campaigned hard for the black vote. It was the first time in decades that a Republican candidate took seriously the need to compete for a bloc of voters who otherwise vote overwhelmingly in favor of the Democratic Party (and its destructive policies). Trump dared black voters to elect him, asking them, “what the hell do you have to lose?”

It was a flippant comment, yes, and the Left flipped out. And, that was the point.

In fact, that was the entire purpose of Trump’s presidential campaign. When Trump said he wasn’t a “politically correct guy,” what he meant was that he wasn’t going to play by his opponents’ rules. He would challenge the reigning political orthodoxy on everything from immigration to free trade to foreign policy. Trump would force Democrats to meet him on the battlefield—using their tactics against them. When the Left could do nothing but squeal, Trump pressed ahead.

Although blacks still voted overwhelmingly for Clinton, Trump won a larger share of the black vote than previous Republican candidates. What’s more, Trump’s approval rating among African-American voters is higher than it was for previous Republican presidents. Undoubtedly, this stems from Trump’s economic policies which have disproportionately benefited African-Americans.

But it’s also attitudinal. Love him or hate him, Trump keeps it real. This explains why (and how) the notorious rapper, Kanye West (now known as “Ye”), became an unlikely torchbearer for Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement. Kanye, the son of a member of the Black Panthers; an acquaintance of Hillary Clinton; scion of the pop culture sleaze machine; the man who artlessly proclaimed after Hurricane Katrina, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” is now a MAGA-hat-wearing-Trump-loving celebrity.

What brought Kanye over to the “dark” side? It was, in part, Trump’s campaign query about what the African-American community has to lose by breaking from the Democratic Party. The black vote consistently has gone Democratic since the Great Depression. And for what?

West, who hails from the crime-ridden Democratic Party stronghold of Chicago, understands firsthand that the Democratic policies aren’t working for his community.

Kanye is one of the greatest African-American celebrities of this generation. While his braggadocio might not go over well with some people, he is a skilled artist. What’s more, like Trump, he is a product of our current cultural zeitgeist. By reaching out to the black community and pursuing policies that benefit all Americans, Trump was able to convince one of the country’s greatest hip-hop entertainers to provide necessary cover from the disgraceful partisanship of the “mainstream” media.

Yet again, the party of Jim Crow has sought to stymie the freedom of a black man to express his own political opinion. In this case, Kanye’s declaration of support for Trump has prompted the self-styled “guardians” of race in America (the most vanilla group of people imaginable) to brand Kanye’s actions as those of a mentally unstable person. Interestingly, the Soviets used to claim political dissidents were mentally ill, too.

I didn’t see an insane man meeting with Trump. I saw a man who was tired of decades of neglect and abuse from the Satanic Left crying out for others to see what he sees. I witnessed a man overcome with a sense of relief and hope—real hope—in finally finding someone (who just so happens to be the president of the United States) who saw that suffering as well.

Of course, to the Left, that’s crazy talk. But the reality is, Republicans are finally competing for the hearts-and-minds of black Americans in a meaningful way. Seen that way, the Trump-Kanye meeting is only strange if one is a racist left-winger, who views black Americans as a class to be kept pacified with dreary government handouts in heavily policed inner cities.

The African-American community isn’t any different from other communities in the United States. Kanye knows it. Most African-Americans recognize this (Al Sharpton excepted). Trump is acting on this recognition. Props to him.

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