BLM Branch Co-Founder's Election Bombshell: Trump "Best Candidate" For President

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

Mark Fisher, co-founder of a Black Lives Matter (BLM) chapter in Rhode Island, is advocating for former President Donald Trump's return to the Oval Office in 2024—and insists he's far from being the only one in the BLM movement to feel this way.

In a recent interview with podcast host Kim Iversen, Mr. Fisher was asked to defend remarks he made earlier that President Trump is "the best candidate we have."

"Because everybody else sucks," Mr. Fisher replied, later praising President Trump for his straightforward approach and contrasting it with what perceives as the Democratic Party's hypocrisy.

Ms. Iversen sought to clarify Mr. Fisher's response, asking if he thought President Trump was simply the best of a bad lot and frankly "not that great either."

Mr. Fisher replied by highlighting his personal regard for President Trump—before adding that it's hard not to appreciate what the 45th president brings to the table given the shortcomings of the incumbent.

"I like Trump," he said, before adding: "I think right now, who we have sitting in the Oval Office is just a deep disappointment."

He expressed "disdain" for President Joe Biden, adding that he "really dislikes" Vice President Kamala Harris as well.

'The Tide Is Starting To Turn'

Reacting to Mr. Fisher's critical remarks about the incumbent and words of praise for the former president, Ms. Iversen suggested that her interviewee was probably a lone figure in the BLM movement who thinks this way.

"No," Mr. Fisher insisted. "I feel like the tide is starting to turn," he said, adding that he thinks "a lot of black people are starting to pivot off that Democratic plantation."

"For so long, we've been slaves to that," he added.

The concept of the Democrat "plantation" was discussed deeply in a New York Times bestseller written by political activist and social media personality Candace Owens, titled "Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation."

Candace Owens speaks at the CPAC convention in National Harbor, Md., on March 1, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

In her book, Ms. Owens argues that Democrat policies hurt, rather than help, the black community in America by pushing policies that perpetuate government dependency, a culture of victimhood, and miseducation.

"Their policies are basically racist policies," Mr. Fisher said of the Democrat Party's policies, which he argued "strike at the heart of the black family and the nuclear family, in general, and I believe Donald Trump is the opposite."

"He's going to tell you how it is, he's going to give it to you straight, he's not going to be a hypocrite and stab you in the back like the Democratic Party loves to do," he added.

Mr. Fisher resigned from his leadership position at BLM Rhode Island and is now the founder and executive director of Maryland's BLM Inc., a pro-entrepreneurship education and financial empowerment non-profit for African Americans and their communities.

'Lambs Led to Slaughter'

In a recent interview with The Epoch Times, Mr. Fisher expressed support for people who took part in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and received harsh sentences while accusing U.S. legacy media of pushing narratives that sow division.

"They’re lambs led to slaughter, to be sacrificed as an example for all who might want to dissent in the future,” Mr. Fisher told The Epoch Times. "This is what the government does to those who express independent thought and want to stand up for what they believe."

In regards to the legacy media, he said they have an agenda to "stop us from uniting."

“It’s the same media that caused the division between all of these marginalized groups in the first place to keep us at each other’s throats,” he said.

Much like during his interview with Ms. Iversen, he also insisted that he's not the only one in the black community to support President Trump, although he added that many are afraid of being ridiculed so they keep their political views secret.

“They won’t say it in public in fear of backlash from the community because they have reputations, businesses, and relationships they don’t want to put in jeopardy,” he said. "But they’ll speak with their vote."

Former President Donald Trump gestures after delivering remarks at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, N.J., on June 13, 2023. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

Mr. Fisher's latest remarks come as President Trump has widened his lead over President Biden in a new CNN poll, which puts support for the former president at 49 percent compared to the incumbent's 45 percent.

When the same poll was carried out at the end of August, President Trump led President Biden by 47 percent to 46 percent.

Besides polls, there have been other signs that the former president enjoys strong support among voters despite the fact that he faces numerous legal challenges that he says are political attacks.

Nevada real estate tycoon Robert Bigelow, the biggest donor to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign, said recently that he's now backing President Trump because he's the "strongest commander" and that's what America now needs in an increasingly chaotic world.