Bernadine Kent, Democratic state rep., endorses Trump, citing his ‘commitment’ to Black community

A Democratic state representative from Ohio who is on the outs with her own party endorsed President Trump ahead of the debate Tuesday night, citing his “commitment to ensuring the success of the Black community.”

“His strong leader ship and willingness to fight for educational and economic empowerment for minorities has brought unprecedented hope to the American people,” State Rep. Bernadine Kennedy Kent, a self-described “lifelong Democrat,” said in a news release.

The lawmaker said she was following in the “bold first step” of Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones, who outraged his party by endorsing Mr. Trump’s reelection campaign and later spoke at the Republican National Convention.

“We all recognize that gainful employment and economic development is the best deterrent against violence and social unrest, so I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to ensuring the success of the Black community in every way,” she wrote.

Mrs. Kent said her “values” now align more with Mr. Trump’s than with “Joe Biden’s divisive rhetoric, promotion of mass incarceration, and disrespectful, insensitive ideologies.”

The two-term lawmaker and her husband James Whitaker greeted Mr. Trump aboard Air Force One in Cleveland ahead of the debate on Tuesday, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

In her statement, Mrs. Kent said her husband had also abandoned the Democratic Party to support Mr. Trump after concluding it “does not have the people’s best interest in mind.”

Mrs. Kent, who is not running for reelection this year, was kicked out of the House Democratic caucus in June 2018 after she sent a letter on Ohio Legislative Black Caucus letterhead without permission, the Inquirer reported. She hasn’t been to the statehouse since May 2019, the newspaper said.

“She basically hasn’t been involved with the party or her Statehouse job for a long time,” Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper told the Inquirer. “This is the first I’ve heard of her in a while. Obviously she checked out of her public position a long time ago.”