President Biden has launched a new outreach effort to reach out to black voters, as polls show he is losing support from them, a core Democratic constituency, to rival former President Donald Trump.
The Biden-Harris campaign announced an eight-figure outlay Wednesday to boost engagement with Black student organizations, community groups and faith centers across the country and in battleground states as the president rallies support for his reelection. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to speak at their first official “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” rally in Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon.
“Today’s launch of the Biden-Harris Black Voters Coalition is another example of how our Campaign is working hard to count every vote. This coalition and our newly announced summer outreach and engagement program mark the next phase of our Campaign’s ongoing historic investment in outreach to Black voters, who are the backbone of the Biden-Harris Coalition,” said Quentin Fulks, Chief Deputy Campaign Manager for the Biden-Harris Campaign.
“While we work hard to win the support of Black Americans, Donald Trump continues to show how ignorant he is. He hosts cheesy rap concerts to hide the fact that he lacks the resources and ability to truly engage with our community,” Fulks said.
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President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris arrive at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on May 27, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden’s rally came days after Trump held a rally in the Bronx that drew as many as 10,000 people to New York City’s most Democratic neighborhood, according to police authorities. In his speech, Trump highlighted the high inflation seen during Biden’s first term in the White House that disproportionately affected black and Hispanic families and vowed to turn around the economy if voters return him to the White House.
Trump’s decision to target minority voters in places like New York, where Republicans haven’t won the state in decades, reflects his campaign’s belief that Biden is showing weakness among key Democratic voters.
Polls support this theory: A recent Fox News poll put Biden at 72% approval among black voters, up from 66% in February but still below the 79% approval rating he had before the 2020 election. A November 2020 Fox News Voter Analysis found that 91% of black voters support Biden.
A New York Times/Siena poll of six battleground states found that 76% of black voters rated the current state of the economy as “fair” or “poor,” while only 22% said it was “very good” or “good.” The survey found that black Americans, like other Americans, rank the economy as their top issue.
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US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with US President Joe Biden in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The Biden-Harris campaign has pledged to step up outreach to Black voters in the coming months to stop that from happening. In addition to Wednesday’s rally in Philadelphia, Biden will participate in an event with Black-owned small businesses in the city, and the campaign will hold events with national organizations and members of the local community “focused on direct voter contact.”
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Throughout the summer, the Biden campaign plans to partner with black groups to reach out to black voters, increase its presence in battleground states and encourage voter registration.
“Our campaign believes Black voters deserve to hear from the Biden-Harris campaign and that their vote is earned, not taken for granted,” the Biden campaign said. “Through historic investments in Black media and outreach, creative engagement efforts, culturally appropriate content and innovative organizing efforts, we are doing just that. No other campaign is more focused on Black voters than we are, and we are investing more money, earlier than ever, to speak to Black voters.”
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The Biden campaign also accused Trump of “campaigning on an anti-Black platform” and “making derogatory rhetoric about Black voters.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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