Judge Greg Mathis has a reputation for calling it like it is, both in the courtroom and outside of it.
In a new interview with theGrio, the Emmy Award-winning TV judge revealed that his pick for the 2024 election is influenced by one major factor: keeping former President Donald Trump out of the White House.
“Our biggest objective is not to allow Donald Trump to be reelected,” Judge Mathis told theGrio. “I think he is adverse to the interests of poor people. And I think he’s dishonest and, quite frankly, [that] he’s one step from a full-blown con man.”
“I’m not going to tell you who to vote for. I’m going to tell you how to research … by looking at the things that weren’t done and under President Trump,” says Mathis, who cited the Trump administration slashing the budget of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which disproportionately impacted Black residents.
The longtime TV judge explained that Trump’s record as president and now-presidential candidate shows that he does not respect Black Americans.
“I mean, a man tells you that he identifies with you because you are a criminal. That should be an insult. Selling gym shoes to Black men because you think they’re into gym shoes more than policy. That’s an insult,” he bemoaned.
“The other night, he suggested that the jobs that we have [are] low-level sub-wage jobs in America, when he said that the immigrants are coming to take Black jobs.”
Judge Mathis, who originally hails from Detroit, in Michigan, one of the most important swing states in this year’s election, said President Joe Biden’s recent lackluster debate performance didn’t change his resolve.
“I’m not as troubled by the stumbles as I am by the lack of policy that we should be hearing,” said the judge.
While he’s best known for his tough-but-inspirational TV persona on “Mathis Court with Judge Mathis” (produced by theGrio’s parent company Allen Media Group), Mathis has political experience and served as Michigan lead for the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.’s presidential campaign in 1988.
Raised by a single mother, Mathis overcame the call of the streets and his arrest as a juvenile to become a district court judge. Based on his own lived experience, the recent presidential debate raised many concerns for him.
“Those concerns involve the substandard education system that our folks are subjected to, our young people,” Judge Mathis told theGrio. “I’m talking about affordable housing, which addresses a crisis that is for low-income and impoverished people.”
“I didn’t hear them talk about crime and policing, which, we are affected by both things: one, by crime in the neighborhood and second, by abuse and policing of our neighborhood,” Mathis assessed, adding, “And I didn’t hear anything about training for AI.”
Despite some Democratic calls for Biden to step down, which have been led mostly by non-Black political leaders, Judge Mathis credits the Biden administration with its tax credit efforts to reduce child poverty and said there is one political asset Biden has that should be more respected: Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Even though we’ve tried to marginalize Vice President Harris, we have someone sitting right there who I think could take the helm. And the reason I say marginalized her is because we hear this criticism. Criticism of what? They keep her hands tied. So what are we to see?”
Mathis continued, “If there’s not a new candidate, God forbid, anything to happen to President Biden over the next four years, we have a great candidate in the vice president, in my opinion.”
Despite the discouragement among American voters who are disappointed in the state of politics and the presidential race, Judge Mathis said it’s too close to November to lose hope.
“I say stay strong and keep your head up,” he encouraged. “I know we’re tempted to go in a different direction, but until we have a direction that’s feasible for a victory, we just gotta stay strong.”
