In 2016, Donald Trump won the presidency by winning the margins, that narrow group of voters who can tip a state into the win column. Trump was able to grab the historically consistent Democrat Rust Belt by winning with blue-collar workers snubbed by coastal Democrats. With the 2020 election just over 17 months away, Trump is actively and aggressively attempting to once again winnow away at the margins. That’s really what this latest hubbub over Trump’s calling out Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and the deplorable conditions of Baltimore is all about. The overreaction of Democrats and the Leftmedia to his factually accurate statements on Democrat-run Baltimore has provided Trump with exactly the kind of political freakout he wants. As we noted yesterday, the more Trump is able to poke Democrats, the more they expose themselves as irrational extremists.

Trump has eagerly gone where few Republicans have ever dared to go, unflinchingly calling out the failures of Democrats no matter what their race. Clearly, Trump refuses to bow to the Left’s nonsensical redefinition of racism — that only white people can truly be racist. And when the Democrats’ only criticism is to label Trump a racist in the face of evidence that demonstrates the exact opposite (Trump’s work on criminal-justice reform and support for Israel, to name just a couple), the bigger question emerges: Why?

Democrats vigorously wave the race card because they are clearly fearful that Trump may be making inroads with black voters; enough to win the margins. In 2016, Trump won 8% of the black vote to Hillary Clinton’s 88%. If Trump is able to substantially increase his percentage of the black vote, then he will have won that particular margin, and most likely the election. Democrats know this, which is why they are desperately trying to convince everyone that Trump’s “real” motivation behind criticism directed toward an individual who is a racial minority is an expression of racism, not policy disagreements. Democrats and the Leftmedia are hoping this race-hustling strategy will work to deceive enough people and blacks in particular to vote against Trump. It’s a one-trick pony that Democrats have been riding for a long time. But this time, a Republican is hitting back hard.