The Detroit Free Press reports:
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s trip into an African American church in Flint to reach out to black voters and address the Flint water crisis ended abruptly amid protesters inside the church and a pastor who asked that he not make a political speech.
“It used to be that cars were made in Flint and you couldn’t drink the water in Mexico and now the cars are made in Mexico and you can’t drink the water in Flint,” Trump said. “It’s terrible.”
But his remarks were cut short — he spoke for just over five minutes — after protesters interrupted his speech with questions about housing discrimination and the Bethel United Methodist Church’s pastor Rev. Faith Green Timmons asked him to stay away from a political speech after Trump started criticizing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“I thought he wanted to see that we gave out food and water and when his statement went beyond what he originally said, I asked him to stick to what he was originally going to say,” said Timmons. “He’s welcome to come and see what we’re doing in Flint. We’re doing well, we’re helping those in need, and I wanted him to see the best of Flint.”
“And some of the statements I’ve heard him say about African Americans and Hispanics have been degrading,” Timmons added.
WATCH: At Flint church, pastor interrupts Trump and asks him to refrain from giving political speech on Clinton. https://t.co/wL8NpCVwPy
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) September 14, 2016
At a Flint church, Trump was interrupted by its pastor to tell him to stop politicizing. Quite a moment: pic.twitter.com/hMGd5D7hCh
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 14, 2016