In a recent report from the Washington Post, the reelection campaign for former President Donald Trump is spending a lot of energy and resources in an effort to target black male voters in numerous swing states.
President Joe Biden has been losing major support amongst black voters as the former president sees double digit gains in support. In order to grow his base, the Trump campaign would likely target black voters who are gun owners and frequently attend church said advisers characterizing their conversations with the team.
In an effort to ramp up support amongst black voters, former president Trump has considered numerous possible vice presidential candidates of African American decent such as Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and his former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson.
Trump launched a new Trump-branded sneaker at Philadelphia’s “Sneaker Con” called Never Surrender High-Tops which sold out almost immediately and engaged thousands of young voters in the process.
In an interview with Newsweek, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said, “Crooked Joe Biden and his campaign are trying to gaslight and distract from the fact that black Americans are turning their back on their destructive policies By contrast, President Trump delivered policies for black Americans like passing criminal justice reform, fully funded HBCUs [historically black colleges and universities], created Opportunity Zones, and lowered black unemployment.”
A three-week long radio ad campaign was launched recently in the swing states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan by MAGA Inc., the primary super PAC for Trump, which criticized “transgender equality” and flat out tells black voters that President Biden doesn’t appreciate their votes or deserves them.
In an interview with Axios, MAGA Inc. CEO Taylor Budowich said, “This is a first step in a sustained effort to reach every voter, in every corner in America. Voters who traditionally vote Democrat are switching their support to Trump because they want a secure border, growing economy, and safe communities.”
In 2020, President Biden received 87% of the black vote with Trump receiving only 12%. Recent polls show that Biden’s lead now is 79% to Trump’s 19% for that demographic.
A Trump adviser described to the Post, “Nobody thinks we are going to win the black vote. But if you get 10 percent more, the election is over.”
Over the course of Biden’s presidency, the Democrats have lost almost 20% of black supporters. Polling from HIT Strategies suggests “This is part of Donald Trump’s path to victory; this is why he’s leaning in so hard,” said the CEO Terrance Woodbury. “There’s about 32 percent of the black electorate that’s just cynical, frustrated, closest to the pain, and that voter doesn’t like Democrats or Republicans. They feel like they’ve been failed by both sides and they’ve been failed by a system. And that’s a part of Donald Trump’s ‘the system is broken’ message that appeals to them.”