Black men are turning their backs on Vice President Kamala Harris and turning out record levels of support for former President Donald Trump.
Among black male voters, 20% said they would vote for Trump even though just 4% considered themselves Republican, according to a New York Times/Siena poll from Oct. 12. Trump is on track to perform better among young black men than any other Republican candidate since 1960, according to CNN pollster Harry Enten.
Harris has managed to hold on to only 41% of support from black men ages 18-44, which is a 12-point deficit from President Joe Biden’s numbers and roughly half of former President Barack Obama’s support among the demographic, according to Enten’s analysis.
These figures have sounded the alarm for the Harris campaign. In an attempt to regain their support, the Democratic presidential hopeful curated a policy pitch to the “brothas,” as Obama said.
Obama lectured other black men during a campaign appearance last week in an attempt to boost turnout for Harris.
“We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” Obama said to a roomful of black men. “Now, I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothas. So if you don’t mind, I’m just going to speak to y’all directly.”
“You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses; I’ve got a problem with that,” Obama continued. “Because part of it makes me think, and I’m speaking to men directly, part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”
Harris has made other attempts to bridge the widening gap between herself and black men.
Harris unveiled her “opportunity agenda” for black men on Monday, featuring policy proposals like forgivable loans for “black entrepreneurs,” bolstering cryptocurrency so black men “know their money is safe,” and legalizing recreational marijuana, despite overseeing over 1,900 marijuana convictions during her tenure as San Francisco district attorney.
However, the campaign’s last-ditch effort to regain the votes fails to address the actual policy priorities of black men.
As in other demographics, the economy remains the top issue for roughly a quarter of black men, according to the recent NYT/Siena poll. While Harris’ pitch to black men is tailored to address issues with a racial backdrop, only 4% said equality is their top priority and just 2% said the same for racial issues.
Democratic political pundits like former CNN host Don Lemon are even admitting that “Kamala Harris has a problem with black men.”
“There’s a problem,” Lemon said. “I went from battleground state to battleground state. … It was not curated. I went up to people just doing man on the street and said, ‘Who are you gonna vote for?’ Black men, time after time after time, they said, ‘I’m voting for Donald Trump.'”
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Kamala harris, Black men, Black male voters, Donald trump, Barack obama, Joe biden, Battleground states, 2024 presidential election, Politics
