Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson predicted Sunday that former President Trump will continue to attract African-American voters because he’s “not a traditional politician.”
“The reason a lot of people in minority communities are leaning towards Trump is because he’s not a traditional politician who just sticks his finger out and dictates which way the winds blow,” Carson said on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.” “When he says he’s going to do something, he does it. You never have to wonder what he’s thinking. He’s open and very articulate and he has a track record.”
Carson, who served under Trump, praised the former president’s record of accomplishments, citing his work on historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and prison reform.
“I think he’s going to continue to make a difference by his actions and his words and continue to attract people, not just in the African-American community but in all communities,” he said.
Recent polls suggest that support for Trump is growing among black voters who have long supported Democrats, and according to a recent CNN poll tally, the numbers suggest that Trump could win up to a fifth of the black vote.
The Biden and Trump campaigns have stepped up outreach to black voters as multiple polls show Biden’s support declining among black voters ahead of November.
In appealing to black voters, Trump visited the South Bronx last month and addressed supporters in Detroit earlier this month. The former president also launched a coalition targeting black Americans ahead of Juneteenth, a federal holiday that marks the day African slaves in Texas learned of freedom after the Civil War, the last of them to be freed.
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign recently launched “Black Voters for Biden-Harris,” an initiative aimed at garnering support from the black community.
National polls show Trump leading Biden by just 0.6 percentage points, according to Decision Desk HQ/The Hill Poll Index.
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