President Trump asks Indy native Jason Whitlock for advice in debate: 'Let Joe Biden talk'

Dana Hunsinger Benbow
Indianapolis Star
Jason Whitlock (right) interviews President Donald Trump Oct. 21, 2020.

Indianapolis native Jason Whitlock, a controversial voice on sports and Black issues — and an outspoken advocate for Donald Trump — was at the White House Wednesday for a sit-down interview with the president.

In a dark, pin-striped suit and gray sneakers, Whitlock sat across from Trump outside the president's home just one day before his final debate with Democratic challenger and former vice president Joe Biden.

Whitlock asked Trump if he has any changes in strategy from the previous debate.

"No, but I'll listen to you," Trump told Whitlock. "If you have any ideas, I'll take them."

"Let Joe Biden talk," Whitlock told the president. "He'll do the work for you."

The interview aired on Outkick.com, a newly launched website that features Whitlock and Clay Travis, host of Fox Sports radio, and focuses on politics and sports.

Whitlock left Fox Sports in June, where he co-hosted “Speak for Yourself" on FS1 for four years alongside Marcellus Wiley. Before that, the Warren Central and Ball State graduate worked for ESPN. 

The 15-minute interview Wednesday touched on many topics. Among them, a conversation with Trump about his connection to Black America.

"I know I look incredibly young, but I actually have lived long enough to remember back when rappers loved...Donald Trump before he was president," Whitlock said. "What changed your relationship with Black celebrities, entertainers?"

Trump reminisced about the 87 rap songs he said he was featured in.

"It was always Trump, Trump, Trump this. My daughter would call me, 'Dad you're in another song,'" he told Whitlock.

Oprah Winfrey was a big enough fan of Trump that in her last week of shows in 2011, she chose Trump as one of her final five guests. 

"Then when I ran for politics, there was like a wall," Trump said. A wall that shouldn't be there, the president said.

"Nobody has done for the Black community what I have done," he said. "Prison reform, criminal justice reform."

Trump went on to say that for 100 years Democrats have had the black vote.

"It's a habit. It's almost habit to vote for a Democrat," Trump said. "Now you have a lot of (Black) people going into the Republican party." 

'He is not politically correct'

An hour before the interview aired, Whitlock appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News to discuss his time with Trump.

"I think there is some clear momentum for President Trump, particularly with Black men," he told Carlson. "I think we've been carrying on a façade for three and a half years as Black men that somehow we can't relate to Donald Trump, that we didn't celebrate him in hip hop music for decades, that he wasn't friends with countless Black athletes, celebrities, entertainers."

Whitlock said there's been a charade of Black men pretending they don't have something in common with Trump and that is starting to end.

"The masculinity of Trump, he represents the patriarchy," Whitlock said. "He is not politically correct. Those are things, I'm just, I'm sorry, a lot of Black men can relate to. It's not really surprising to me he's starting to make head way in that direction."

'Antifa is modern day KKK'

The White House interview began with Whitlock getting personal telling Trump that his mother is a lifelong Democrat and factory worker. That his dad was a factory worker who then went into business catering to factory workers. He asked the president to tell his mom what "America first" means.

He then praised the president for intervening to get Big Ten college football back.

"The other reason I am here is college football. In 1984, me and my dad were in a 400-square-foot apartment," Whitlock said. "The only people looking for me were college football coaches. Getting a college football scholarship changed my life. Your help getting Big Ten football back rang true."

Trump told Whitlock he worked quickly to make it happen.

"When I heard that the Big Ten was out, I said 'We got to get them open,'" he said. "I worked very hard for a very short period of time, very focused...we got them thinking about it ...and we got them to do it."

By the end of the interview, after Whitlock told the president of his distaste for Antifa, calling it the "modern day KKK," Trump was praising Whitlock.

"You are so smart and you are so right and Antifa is a disaster," Trump said. "I have a lot of respect for you."

Whitlock then asked Trump if he wins a second term if the country might see a different personality, a kinder, softer, gentler person.

"I think the answer is yes. I want the answer to be yes," Trump said. "When I first came here there was so much to do. I didn't have time to be politically correct. Sometimes we don't have time but I'd certainly like to."

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.