White House independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is accelerating his courtship of Black voters across the country, hoping to gain an edge in one of the voting blocs most important to President Biden’s victory.
President Kennedy is pitching himself among black churches, roundtables and celebrities, believing he can drum up enthusiasm for a third option on the November ballot.
The move has drawn the attention of black politicians and media figures, some of whom fear that Mr. Kennedy will further undermine Mr. Biden’s White House prospects. Some people are more receptive and intrigued.
“RFK Jr. strives to have real conversations in Black spaces,” said Tim Black, an African-American podcast host. “The important thing is that that space is one where he has no control over the conversation. The dialogue is spontaneous, so it’s not scripted. It’s real.”
Mr. Kennedy’s flood-the-zone approach is in sharp contrast to Mr. Biden, who has turned down numerous impromptu interview opportunities this term in an effort to win the same solid support from black voters he had in the last election. It is true. Kennedy, on the other hand, is more unscripted and unconventional.
Some Black voices say his willingness to speak freely with Biden has helped him reach his most trusted voters at a time when excitement about him has waned.
“RFK Jr. and his campaign are very effective in providing a real-time, live, direct connection with us,” Black said.
Aiming to tap into both Biden’s base popularity and Trump’s slight uptick among Black voters, the environmental lawyer is building a strategy around what sources close to him say , which has been deeply involved with the community for years.
“Bobby had a remarkable career in the black community even before he ran for office,” said Jamel Hawley, senior adviser to President Kennedy and former mayor of Roselle, New Jersey, pointing to his steady involvement with the NAACP. And also about other race-related initiatives.
“What we’ve done is go into African-American communities in different states,” he said. “Right now, about 40 to 45 percent of Black voters are stuck. They don’t want to vote for Biden, and they don’t want to vote for Trump.”
“Giving them the option of a third-party candidate like Bobby, some of whom aren’t even interested in a two-party system, I think is the right thing to do,” he said.
The Kennedy campaign has recently been exploring new avenues of engagement. He appeared with American rapper Eric B at an event at the First Baptist Church Food Pantry in Queens, New York. Before that, he spoke with Black women activists in a series of talks during Black History Month.
“I’m not here to preach to people, I’m here to learn,” Kennedy said of her work with Black women across a variety of issues, including gun violence, which is a disproportionate concern among the community. said during the discussion.
He also had a meeting with fellow hip-hop artist and activist Killer Mike at a barbershop in Atlanta. Killer Mike is a prominent left-winger and former surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (R-Vermont).
Their relationship signals potential cross-border appeal at a time when the 70-year-old candidate is deeply dissatisfied with Washington politics. After switching from being a Democrat to becoming an independent in October, Kennedy is receiving fresh attention from some black progressives who have expressed interest in finding other options.
From 2016 to 2020, President Kennedy has shown early signs of traction among black activists sympathetic to the Sanders coalition, who have spoken out against economic hardship, food insecurity and improving conditions for the working class. Ta. The crossover would be critical to Mr. Sanders’ mobilization of black voters, drawing potential voters away from independent Cornel West, who is running as an insurgent against the Democratic and Republican conventions. There is a possibility that it may be peeled off. West told The Hill he is also offering voters another option.
Although there are still more than eight months until Election Day, polls suggest that Mr. Kennedy may gain even more support. If the current state of the race is any indication, at least some black voters dissatisfied with the two front-runners will consider voting for Kennedy.New York Times/Siena College investigation Data from October shows Kennedy has double-digit support (26 percent) among black voters in battleground states, who would support him over Biden or Trump.
Asked for comment by The Hill on Thursday, Kennedy campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Speer said in a statement: Kennedy’s focus on economic revitalization and people disenfranchised by the corrupt merger of business and government is a natural appeal to black voters. ”
“There are a lot of black voters in this country who feel taken for granted by Democrats and ignored by Republicans,” Spear said.
President Kennedy has outlined an agenda aimed at what he calls “racial healing,” ranging from police and prison reform to addiction, which Kennedy has publicly battled in his private life. The agenda includes a wide range of topics, including policies to improve school infrastructure to support people who are suffering. His plan acknowledges the “legacy of unhealed racism” in the United States.
“He’s becoming a very attractive candidate for African Americans,” Holley said. “The success is paying off, and it’s slowly going state by state, month by month, and we’re seeing more support for Bobby. I think it’s important that we continue to pivot and continue to do that.” Masu.”
Holley said that as he and Kennedy traveled around the country, including in California and Georgia, he heard from dissatisfied voters in both parties who said, “We don’t believe in those types of candidates anymore.” Pointing out the “same message” and saying, “Nothing has changed.”
While Mr. Kennedy appears to be gaining support among some black voters who are disillusioned with the two-party system, some Democratic Party officials believe that his candidacy will protect democratic norms such as the right to vote. Some see it as an affront to the fundamental principles that matter most in this election. freely. That’s especially concerning among those who see President Trump’s re-election as their biggest concern come November.
Some Black strategists warn that anything that reduces turnout or creates a “spoiler” effect for Biden could help Trump seek a second term. Kennedy has been a major factor in that debate. If he wins in a handful of battleground states, he could theoretically get enough Biden candidates to support his candidacy.
Michael Starr Hopkins said in 2016 that “Black voters have worked too hard to secure their voting rights in order to waste them on a Jill Stein sequel” and that many Democrats mentioned concerns that Kennedy would be a spoiler candidate, as Stein was aware of.
“RFK Jr. is unable to convince his own family to support him, so I don’t see how his campaign can help beyond in-kind contributions to the Trump campaign,” Starr-Hopkins said.
“If history has taught us anything, it’s that this kind of performance usually ends with a standing ovation from the very people we’re all trying to keep out of the White House.”
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