A controversial Forbes column with a headline that questioned if former President Donald Trump surviving Saturday’s assassination attempt would draw more black voters was yanked from its website amid social media backlash.
The piece, “Will Surviving Gunfire Be Donald Trump’s Next Appeal To Black Voters,” by scholar and self-described DEI expert Shaun Harper was posted Sunday morning and quickly called out by critics on X.
The column described how black Americans face “inexcusably” high levels of gun violence, including in many urban centers, which Harper wrote Trump could address through legislation and financial investments in urban black communities.
The author mentioned Trump attempted to sway black voters after he was indicted on various criminal charges and his mugshot was taken in one of his cases last year.
“Hopefully, being shot doesn’t become a similarly problematic strategy to link Trump with an experience that far too many (not all) Black people have,” part of the column reads.
“Instead, using his powerful platform to advocate fixing this through public policy and significant financial investments into urban Black communities is the opportunity that awaits Trump once he recovers from the tragedy that occurred at his rally.”
But social media users were incensed by the column and its headline.
“One thing everyone in my feed from MAGA to progressive agrees on is that this random Forbes op-ed sucks. Maybe that can be a starting place for healing,” wrote political commendatory Tim Miller.
“Just casual racism from Forbes,” filmmaker Randy Wilkins argued. “No biggie.”
The outlet’s union even called out the column.
“This post does not represent who we, @ForbesUnion, are as a newsroom, or our ethical and journalistic principles,” the account tweeted.
Attempts to reach the online story resulted in a 404 error, which was diverted back to the homepage.
The column was published after Trump was struck by a bullet during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, but was able to walk off the stage on his own. Three others were hit, including a 50-year-old father of two who was killed.
The would-be assassin was shot and killed by the Secret Service.
When reached by The Post, Harper said his column has been widely misinterpreted.
The Post sought comment from Forbes Sunday night.
