The Rev. Al Sharpton revealed Donald Trump unexpectedly cold called him after winning the presidency in 2016, claiming Trump told him: ‘You got me.’
The activist, 70, told the New York Times the out-of-the-blue phone call came after he went on MSNBC the day after Trump’s upset victory over Hillary Clinton.
Explaining the shock to the nation, Sharpton stated that much of Trump’s appeal to the nation at the time stemmed from the perception of him as an outsider.
‘You have to understand Donald Trump as a New Yorker,’ he said, arguing that Trump’s upbringing in Queens left him feeling alienated in Manhattan early in his career, which he later extrapolated to a national audience.
Sharpton said shortly after the broadcast, he received a call from an unfamiliar number, so he ignored it. When it persisted, he eventually picked up, and it was the then-president elect.
‘The lady said, ‘The president-elect would like to speak to you,” Sharpton recalled to the Times. ‘And he comes on the phone, and he says, ‘Al! I saw you this morning. You got me.”
The civil rights leader told the anecdote in the context of Trump’s staggering surge in deep blue New York in the presidential election, saying that he believes Trump ‘sincerely wants to try to be embraced by this town.’
Although Trump expectedly lost New York in the election, he gained seven percent statewide on his 2020 results, and made huge inroads with voter groups that previously shunned him within the city.
Trump made greater inroads in New York than in any state across the nation compared to his 2020 results.
Sharpton said he is not as surprised as others over the ‘romance we’re seeing’ between Trump and New York now, after he notably put on rallies in the Bronx, Nassau County and Madison Square Garden in the campaign.
He put it down to Trump’s deep-seated insecurity about ‘being an outer-borough guy from Queens’, and believes the Republican truly wants nothing more than to be ’embraced’ by his hometown.
‘They indicted him, convicted him, but it’s like, ‘Look at me now!’ I think it’s like the girl in high school that turned you down for the prom,’ Sharpton said.
‘You always want to say, what about me now? And I think that’s what he’s going through.’
Sharpton’s anecdote about his exchange with Trump after his victory comes as a surprise given the activist’s outspoken liberal views.
These recently landed him in hot water following an interview with Kamala Harris during the election.
Sharpton’s sit down with the vice president last month drew scrutiny for his softball questioning, with the conservative Washington Free Beacon releasing campaign finance records claiming his non-profit was paid handsomely before the gig.
Harris’ campaign allegedly gave two $250,000 payments to Sharpton’s National Action Network on September 5 and October 1.
And on October 20, Sharpton’s went on to praise Harris’ ‘extraordinary historic campaign’ in a gushing interview, and branded Donald Trump ‘hostile and erratic.’
While Sharpton’s support for Harris may have hurt during the election season, he was certainly right about Trump’s recent, unexpected surge in New York.
In his home state, Trump has made huge inroads with voting groups that shunned him in 2016 and 2020, including picking up 13 percentage points with Black men compared to eight years ago.
The President-elect also gained 13 points among voters aged 18 to 29 and a staggering 32 points among Latinos since the last election.
And although Kamala Harris won deep blue New York handily by 11 points statewide, Trump clawed back significant percentages across the city – traditionally seen as one of the most liberal hotspots in the nation.
For example, in The Bronx, a borough with a majority Hispanic population at 54.6 percent and 43 percent Black population, Trump picked up 12 percent and 30,000 voters.
He made similar but slightly smaller inroads in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.
To put this to the test, DailyMail.com ventured out to one of Manhattan’s most liberal areas while wearing a MAGA hat – and received some surprising responses.