As a matter of American tradition, presidential inaugural addresses focus on broad themes related to the state of the nation and the incoming administration’s vision for the future. In his second inaugural address, Donald Trump became the first president in history to focus on specific electoral details, explicitly referencing “swing states” and “the popular vote.”

But in the next breath, the Republican also turned his attention to closely watched electoral constituencies. From the address:

To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote. We set records, and I will not forget it. I’ve heard your voices in the campaign, and I look forward to working with you in the years to come. Today is Martin Luther King Day. … In his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true.

As a factual matter, Trump’s comments about having “set records” were demonstrably wrong: Plenty of other candidates, in both parties, have fared far better than he did among Black and Hispanic voters.

What’s more, there was an obvious disconnect between the message and the messenger: Trump’s record is littered with countless examples of ugly and overt racism, which continued during his 2024 candidacy. This might not have been enough to defeat his candidacy, but it made it tough to stomach when he talked about “striving together” to make the Rev. Martin Luther King’s dream a reality.

But perhaps, some might argue, the president has turned over a new leaf. Maybe, generous observers might claim, when he said in his inaugural remarks that he “will not forget” the support he received from Black communities, he meant it. Perhaps, the theory goes, when the Republican who has pioneered racist conspiracy theories said he’s eager to “work with” communities of color in his second term, he meant it.

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Or maybe not. Consider the steps Trump and his new administration have taken in recent days.

• As The Washington Post reported, Trump, on the third day of his second term, “revoked a landmark executive order signed by Lyndon B. Johnson to prevent discrimination in government employment and advance racial equality.”
• As The Associated Press reported, Trump’s new Justice Department leadership has “put a freeze on civil rights litigation.”
• As The New York Times reported, Trump’s new Justice Department leadership has also signaled that it’s prepared to “back out of Biden-era agreements with police departments that engaged in discrimination or violence.”
• And as my MSNBC colleagues have explained in recent days, Trump and his team have launched a hysterical crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion policies designed to make workplaces more welcoming to marginalized groups.

With these developments in mind, here’s that quote from the Republican’s inaugural address once more: “To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote. We set records, and I will not forget it.”

By all appearances, Trump seems to have forgotten it.