Jeffrey Coleman, founder and president of Barbershop Tour, invited former President Donald Trump to join him on his Barbershop Tour after the president said he was interested in getting a haircut at a black barbershop on a recent Fox News segment.
"I'm excited to hear Big Bro's enthusiasm in regards to reaching out and communicating at a grass roots level," Coleman told Southland Marquee in response to Trump's approval of Barbershop Tour. "I encourage him to take full advantage of the political tide turn that is accruing as we speak here in Chicago and Black communities across the Country."
"I would like to extend a personal invitation to join me on my Barbershop Tour to hear and see first hand the power of the Barbershop," he said. "And also get that haircut he mentioned."
Coleman's Barbershop Tour was recently visited by Fox News host Lawrence Jones, who came to interview customers and talk about how political trends are changing in Chicago.
"We've been doing these barbershop tours since '03, and it's really enlightening to hear individuals start to change their political direction," Coleman told Jones in a clip. "I think it's time that blacks in general need to boost our political IQ. Stop being blindly faithful to a one-party system that doesn't work for us. So, I've always liked Donald Trump."
Jones later showed the clip of him talking with Coleman to Trump on a Fox News segment and asked if he would be willing to talk to people on the ground in local community sites like barbershops.
"I am going to be doing that," Trump responded.
"I like that guy, and I like those people," he said about Coleman. "I was thinking about maybe going there myself because I like the work, maybe they make my hair look better. I’d pay a lot of money for that haircut."
Coleman started Barbershop Tour in 2003 to start consistent political engagement with the black community in Chicago. "Historically Black barbershops and beauty salons have been one of the few institutions that offered economic independence and provide a sanctuary for African-American men and women, and a space where seeds of progressive social action could be planted," he told Southland Marquee.
Jeffrey Coleman is the son of Republican politician Percy Coleman. He is the founder of Barbershop Tour, a grassroots political organization in the greater Chicago area. He previously ran for election to the Illinois House of Representatives in District 29 in 2022, and was defeated in the election by Democrat nominee Thaddeus Jones.