Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention was seemingly chock full of various “average Joes” they had dredged up from across the country expressing their love and admiration for this nation’s biggest mistake to date.
However, a new report from the New York Times has shed some light on the situation now that the RNC is in our rearview mirror, and as it turns out, at least some of those testimonies we heard over the course of four days actually came from some less than willing participants. Or, at least, participants who wouldn’t have been willing had they actually been informed on what they were participating in.
The Times report paints a picture of an unexpected phone call from longtime Trump associate Lynne Patton to the leader of a tenants’ group at the New York City Housing Authority — in which she expressed her desire to speak to residents about the poor conditions of the authority’s buildings.
In the end, four tenants sat for more than four hours for an interview conducted by Ms. Patton herself. But as it turns out, three out of the four tenants claim they were not informed that their interview would ultimately be edited and used in a two-minute clip that prominently aired during the RNC and was used to bash New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio.
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One tenant, Claudia Perez, told the Times in an interview, “I am not a Trump supporter. I am not a supporter of his racist policies on immigration. I am a first-generation Honduran. It was my people he was sending back.”
The NYT report goes on to outline how this is just yet another example of how Trump has used government resources to further his personal political agenda.
Ms. Patton is head of the New York office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and under the Hatch Act is barred from using her government position to engage in political activities.”
On Friday, the Times interviewed all four tenants who were used in the RNC clip, three of which said they oppose Donald Trump and were not informed of the truth regarding the video, the fourth one being a Trump supporter who apparently knew the plan.
The Times reports:
In the video, the tenants raised concerns about conditions in the housing authority’s buildings, praised Mr. Trump’s record on public housing and attacked Mr. de Blasio’s. Ms. Perez, one of the tenants, said in an interview on Friday afternoon that she stood by her criticism of the authority but was furious about being tricked into appearing in a video shown at the R.N.C.”
We’ve been saying for some time now that Donald Trump is truly at a point where he will do whatever he thinks it takes to secure another term in the White House. Even if that means blatantly lying to and using the people he’s been sworn to protect and serve.
You can read the full report here.
Featured image via screen capture
