Rep. Byron Donald (R-Fla.) predicted Sunday that up to a quarter of Black voters could support former President Trump in the November election, describing it as the “first wave” of Black voters moving toward the Republican Party.
In an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Donald said that if the election were held today, Trump would get between 14 and 18 percent of the black vote. He believes that percentage could increase between now and Election Day, and that 25 percent is “quite possible.”
“To get to 25 percent, it takes an entire actual campaign, get-to-vote efforts, direct media targeting of Black voters, explaining how President Trump’s policies are better for Black voters than Joe Biden’s policies, and then explaining how we’re going to get America back on the right track again,” Donald said.
“That’s what black people want in America today, no more political dogma,” he continued.
Donald predicted that this strong showing among black voters could have a big impact.
“And what that shows is that the political ideology and political attitudes of Black voters are changing,” he said. “I think November will be the first shot at seeing a shift not just among Black voters, but among many voters in the United States.”
Donald is seen as one of the finalists to be President Trump’s running mate, and said adding her to the list would provide a “direct contrast” with Vice President Harris, who is also Black.
Trump won about 12% of the Black vote in the 2020 election, but recent polls suggest he could win up to a fifth of the Black vote this year.
Both Biden and Trump have stepped up efforts to reach out to Black voters, particularly Black men, in the 2024 election cycle. While Trump has focused on trying to connect with voters, Biden’s campaign has generally focused on policy outcomes.
“We don’t know how to win without Black men,” Mondaire Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project, told The Hill last week.
The Biden campaign has rejected the idea that Trump is making gains among black voters, with campaign co-chair Mitch Landrieu saying last week that “there is no world” in which Trump would win 21 percent of black voters, as a recent CNN poll suggested.
During a campaign rally last month, Biden said Trump was simply “pandering” to black voters, but that as the incumbent he had made it happen.
“I showed you who I am, Mr. Trump showed you who he is, and now Donald Trump is pandering and spreading lies and stereotypes to get your vote to win, not for you, but for himself,” Biden said. “Mr. Donald Trump, I want to tell you this: We will not do that in our country, not in our term.”
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is holding up the polls as evidence that its campaign is making progress.
“President Trump is visiting Black communities and listening to voters where they live,” Janiya Thomas, the Trump campaign’s director of Black media, told The Hill in a statement last week.
“Opinion polls and every other measure of public support reflect historic numbers of voters in the black community abandoning Biden for President Trump.”
