Republican efforts to win over black voters at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee may have fallen short as Republicans failed to tout the party’s diversity and instead relied on controversial talking points.
Former President Trump has been trying to rip black voters away from the Democratic Party this year, but only eight of the speakers at the convention were black, including seven on the first night, which typically has the smallest audience. No black women spoke at the convention, a stark contrast to the Democratic National Convention, where Vice President Harris spoke.
“This is a miscalculation by the Republican Party,” Mondaire Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voters Project, told The Hill. “The RNC has not done any real outreach to Black people, and their efforts to reach out to us through their performance at the RNC are as vulgar as Trump’s tan.”
Republican efforts to reach out to black voters have included launching an outreach campaign a week before the Republican National Convention and relying on black voices such as reality TV star and model Amber Rose.
During his speech, Rhodes spoke about “finding my allies” among Trump supporters and realizing the media had gotten it wrong about Trump.
Some prominent Republicans praised Rose’s speech, with Rep. Nancy Mace of Lausanne calling his remarks “heartwarming.”
“Her speech was great. I thought it was a great speech,” she told Milwaukee’s The Hill newspaper this week, adding, “I watched the whole thing.”
Within the Republican Party, her inclusion is seen as part of a larger effort to broaden the party’s support.
“We’re reaching out to non-traditional Republican voters,” Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Wash., said when asked about Rose’s inclusion on the convention speaker list. “That’s what we’ve done in the district that I represent in the Washington State Congress.”
“For 70 years this was a deep blue district, but about eight years ago we flipped that around and now it’s considered a safe red district. And we did that by reaching out to people who aren’t considered typical Republicans,” he said, including “single mothers, a lot of minorities” and “a lot of union families.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) on Wednesday argued that Trump has played a key role in expanding Democratic support and chipping away at a key voting bloc for Democrats, specifically focusing on Black voters.
“Traditional Democrats, blacks, Asians, Hispanics and liberal Jews, they’re not coming to this country right away. My grandfather’s Democratic Party was destroyed as a left wing,” Trump said at an event less than a mile from the Republican National Convention. “They can’t support social policies. They can’t support economic policies.”
“Our job is to go where they are and educate them on who we are and why we’re the better choice. That started with seeking out and recruiting candidates who look and sound more like the districts they want to represent,” Emmer said. “The results over the past five years have been incredible, and I would argue this election takes it to a whole new level.”
But some question the impact of an effort such as inviting Rose, who is opposed by some conservatives, would have. Was chosen For Her Past proposals How will policies on women’s issues affect young and minority voters? concern On how the party’s focus on diversifying will impact its base of support.
“I didn’t know who she was, and while I understand the idea of reaching out to young people to broaden your base, it usually doesn’t work,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told The Hill.
“But we should worry about our base. That’s what I’m more worried about,” he said, adding: “20 million evangelical Christians decided not to vote last time. That’s why Joe Biden is in the White House. So if we ignore our base, it will hurt us.”
Robinson, of the Black Male Voter Project, added that black voters, especially men, aren’t paying attention to the convention.
“Black men don’t watch these conventions,” Robinson said. “They’re not for black men. They’re not conventions to bring in black men. They’re conventions for black men married to white women to make their white friends feel like they’re reaching out to black men.”
Still, at a time when dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party is spreading across society, Trump is working hard to win over black male voters.
According to a new poll from The Cut, 64% of black women said they would vote for Biden if the election were held today, a significantly lower number than the 95% who supported him in 2020. Meanwhile, an April survey found: Wall Street Journal Battleground State Poll The survey found that about 30% of black men said they would definitely or probably vote for Trump, after he garnered about 12% support from black men in 2020.
Trump initially suggested he was considering Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina as his running mate, but that idea was dashed earlier this week when Sen. J.D. Vance was selected as his running mate. Still, Scott delivered an impassioned speech on Monday in which he called Trump an “American lion.”
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) referenced his identity as a black man in his speech.
“I’m the great-great-grandson of slaves. I’m the son of a retired lieutenant colonel. I’m from West Point with two other brothers. And we risked our lives in combat to defend our country,” Hunt said, adding that Trump is now risking his life for his country.
But using these black men as a way to appeal to voters may not have the impact Republicans hope for, said Democratic strategist Antjuan Searight.
“What’s sad about their so-called Black engagement strategy is that it doesn’t address the generational needs and aspirations and the struggles that we’ve faced in this country from our time in it,” Searight said. “It doesn’t address the fact that many of the battles that we’re fighting right now are a direct result of their extreme tactics, their extreme policies and their extreme politicians who are working day and night to erode the progress that we’ve made in this country.”
