“If you're looking for racism today, you’d find it in cities run by Democrats.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — Black voters – in particular Black women – are still considered to be one of "the backbones" of the Democrat Party's coalition of voters. But after months of polling showing movement toward Republicans and Donald Trump, Democrats are now scrambling to stop losing the support of that nation's Black Voters.
President Biden's sagging support among Black voters all across the country has set off alarm bells among Democrats – and is raising hopes among Republicans that Donald Trump could score historic gains with a key part of their opposition's base.
"We are the Republican Party of Frederick Douglass, of Abraham Lincoln, of Ronald Reagan, and of Donald J. Trump – but we are not simply the party of our (past) leaders,” exclaimed South Carolina Senator Tim Scott from the Republican Party's convention podium a few nights ago.
"We are also a party of a young woman in Wisconsin taking over her family farm, a Hispanic father working 16-hour days in Nevada, and a Black teenager in Philly starving for opportunity.
"It's Republican policies that lift people up," exclaimed Senator Scott.
Erosion began when Mr. Trump crashed onto the scene in 2015 and began his pursuit of Black Voters – famously challenging them to ask themselves, “What do you have to lose?”
- In 2016, Hillary Clinton outperformed Mr. Trump 89% to 8% among Black voters.
- In 2020, Mr. Biden defeated Mr. Trump 87% to 12% among Black voters.
- But a recent ABC/Washington Post Poll earlier this month showed that 79% of Black voters now back Joe Biden, while 15% support Donald Trump.
And according to a recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll of Black voters in the key swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, Mr. Biden's support has fallen 20 percentage points from his 2020 figures to just 56% in Pennsylvania – and is down 22 points in Michigan to only 54%.
Then candidate Joe Biden told Black voters in a controversial in 2020 Interview that if they supported Donald Trump, then they just “ain’t Black.”
But Michigan Congressman John James turned that phrase on its head from the stage at the Republican National Convention earlier this week, saying:
“I heard a little earlier today, ‘If you don’t vote for Donald Trump, you ain’t Black,’” joked James, as he flashed a smile to the crowd.
Mr. James is one of a historic number of Black Americans making the argument at this week's Republican Convention that Mr. Trump has broken Democrats’ decades-long lock on the Black vote.
From the stage Monday, the first night of the convention, Black Republican lawmakers described their histories:
- a great-great-grandson of a slave
- a grandson of a cotton picker, and
- the son of a father denied entry to college in the Jim Crow South
That was where the identity politics ended.
“I’ve been looking forward to the day that we get to where people start really thinking outside of the background, outside the color, outside of messages of who we should be based on exterior, and we saw last night is exactly where America is,” said Cong. Burgess Owens of Utah.
“We have certain goals and dreams, and it doesn’t matter what color we are or what ZIP code we go in. We all want freedom. We want to have the ability to dream big and want to know that we put our work and effort out there to come back.”
He is one of five Black Republicans in Congress – the largest total since 1877. The others are:
- Congressman James,
- Wesley Hunt of Texas
- Cong. Byron Donalds of Florida and
- Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who addressed the convention,
- along with North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is seeking to become the state’s first Black Governor
They all delivered rousing speeches exclaiming Black voters were socially conservative – whose values aligned more with Republicans than Democrats.
Also speaking in a prime slot Monday was social media influencer, rapper and nationally known model Amber Rose, who titillated the crowd with her speech. She said Americans are “pissed” when they see the price of gas under President Biden.
“The dam has broken,” said Joshua McKoon, chair of the Georgia Republican Party, who sponsored a Tuesday event on behalf of Black delegates and elected leaders.
“When we look backward at 2024, people are going to say, ‘This is when the Democrat Party’s monopoly on Black political support in this country was broken.’
"I really believe that this is political realignment,” he said.
Not all of the GOP delegates shared their ethnicities with convention organizers, but the latest tally had at least 55 confirmed Black delegates this year. The 2016 convention had 18 Black delegates.
The Republicans’ message this week is more mature.
“I think the number of African Americans who are now elected give a more broad brush of what a Black Republican can look like, can talk like and feel like,” said David Dix, a Philadelphia-based consultant and convention attendee. “It’s not one size fits all.”
Senator Tim Scott said he was raised by a single mother in poverty who taught him to “work hard, take responsibility and reject victimhood.”
“I know this is going to offend the liberal elites every time I say it – but let me say it one more time: America is not a racist country,” said Scott, sparking loud applause from the convention's crowd of delegates.
“If you are looking for racism today, you’d find it in cities run by Democrats,” the Senator from South Carolina said.
“Look on the South Side of Chicago – Poor black kids trapped in failing schools, 1,000s of shootings every single year.
“But there is good news: It is conservative values that restore hope,” said Mr. Scott said.
Trump adviser Bruce Levell said the former president’s message has resonated with Black Americans who have felt “bullied” – or have had an “awakening.”
“What the hell do you have to lose? Try something different,” he said.
“I think a lot of folks, especially in Black culture, are starting to say like, ‘Damn, maybe he is right,” Levell said.
