Well-known and respected Hollywood actor Don Cheadle is striking back at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for taking advantage of an African-American woman’s death.
Trump is claiming that the fatal shooting of Nykea Aldridge is a reason why African-Americans should vote and will vote for him during the November election.
Nykea Aldridge is the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade. She was shot and fatally wounded after an exchange of gunfire between two men while pushing a baby stroller on Friday in Chicago’s Parkway Gardens. Police have confirmed that she was not the target of the shootings and was an innocent bystander.
Trump, who heard this news, decided to go on the offense and use this high-profile murder to his benefit. He sent out a tweet which said:
Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2016
This tweet pissed off Cheadle and many critics around the country who felt that Trump was using Aldridge’s death and the city of Chicago’s history of gun violence for his own political gain. No longer able to hold his tongue, Cheadle fired off a series of angry tweets directed at Trump and his ignorance. The first tweet looked like this:
https://twitter.com/DonCheadle/status/769544407368421377
Just in case he hadn’t made his point very clear, Cheadle sent out another tweet that said:
https://twitter.com/DonCheadle/status/769545456703549440
Cheadle then composed himself and sent out a myriad of more informed tweets about Trump. He very clearly pointed out that people like Donald Trump were the reason for Chicago’s downfall. He also mentioned that Trump was just giving more fodder to his RWNJ supporters who are missing the mark when it comes to race relations. Here are the tweets that Cheadle put out:
https://twitter.com/DonCheadle/status/769546333132722176
https://twitter.com/DonCheadle/status/769547801722093568
Perhaps his best tweet was when he was talking about the possibility of a Trump presidency. The tweet goes like this:
https://twitter.com/DonCheadle/status/769549087431532544
Of course Trump did not respond to any of Cheadle’s tweets. How could he respond when he has no idea about the problems facing the African-American community? We must remember that this is the man who said he could relate to the struggles of African-Americans because he had been through rough times as well. Cheadle would have eaten Trump for breakfast and left his carcass so the birds could feed on him.
Of course Trump, recognizing how stupid he was looking, sent out a tweet on Saturday which said:
My condolences to Dwyane Wade and his family, on the loss of Nykea Aldridge. They are in my thoughts and prayers.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2016
What’s truly sad is that this wasn’t his first response. Do we really want a president who is not able to tap into empathy and compassion? Don Cheadle recognizes the fact that Trump will never be able to have compassion for anyone who he does not relate to in an immediate way.
The rest of us should get on board with Cheadle’s line of thinking.
Here is a video of Donald Trump saying that he understands the African-American struggle because the system is rigged against him too:
Featured image from Bob Beklan on Flickr available under a CC Attribution-ShareAlike license.
