His dishonesty was obvious
Now, the man who brought Trump to Miami last year — longtime Miami Haitian
Trump's comments have otherwise infuriated Miami's massive Haitian diaspora. Haitian-American political leaders, including county Commissioner Jean Monestime, have demanded Trump apologize. Monestime said yesterday that "all decent people" should be able to recognize why Trump's comments are hurtful.
Likewise, Haitian-American immigrant activist Francesca Menes wrote online yesterday that the people who brought Trump to Miami in 2016 — after he'd already spent a year disparaging immigrants, ginning up white-supremacist rage, and dog-whistling to Nazis — deserved to be called to the carpet for their decision to let him speak in Miami's Haitian enclave.
"Self-serving Haitians, who now bury their faces in the sand, welcomed this sorry, poor excuse for a human being," Menes wrote.
Those "self-serving Haitians," of course, include Cayard, who is an infamous figure in Miami and Haitian politics. After starting a prominent local Haitian bakery and market, Cayard became a political power-player in town. For years he ran the now-defunct Haitian-American Foundation Inc. His reputation took a nosedive, however, after he was arrested in 2008 on 20 counts of grand theft, racketeering, and money-laundering. He was accused of stealing thousands of dollars in Miami-Dade County grants that were supposed to go to the nonprofit.
According to the Miami Herald, Cayard entered a pretrial diversion program for first-time offenders in 2012, which resulted in all but three of his charges being dropped. According to the Herald, he effectively avoided prosecution "in exchange for community service." Ed
In 2016, Cayard used his political connections to help bring Trump to Little Haiti's most
"Clinton was responsible for doing things a lot of the Haitian people are not happy with,” Trump said. “Taxpayer dollars intended for Haiti and the earthquake victims went to a lot of the Clinton cronies.”
He added, "Whether you vote for me or not, I really want to be your biggest champion."
Or maybe not.