Donald Trump thinks African American communities are in the worse shape they’ve ever been in, “ever, ever, ever.” Corey Lewandowski, his erstwhile campaign manager who, it was revealed last night, was paid $20,000 in August for “strategy consulting” rather than as part of a severance package, agrees.

Luckily, CNN anchor Don Lemon and Atlantic contributor Peter Beirnart remember that slavery existed not long ago, and even more recently, that Trump and his father were investigated by the Nixon Justice Department for discriminating against black potential tenants.

“Ever, ever, ever”? No. As Lemon pointed out last night, that’s not appeal to black voters — that’s talking at black voters, a thinly-veiled attempt to convince otherwise decent people that they’re not really voting for an outright racist.