Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is making its clearest effort yet to target black men this week, announcing a slew of new policy proposals, expanded programming and a media blitz — all designed to appeal to black male voters — as Republicans make a play for the people. usually a Democratic constituency.
“As we get closer to the bottom line here, she wants to make sure we’re speaking directly to a constituency that’s always been important to her, and that’s Black men,” said Michael Tyler, communications director for the Harris-Walz campaign.
On Monday, the vice president announced the “Agenda of Opportunity for Black Men.” Policies include a plan to provide 1 million fully forgivable loans of up to $20,000 for black entrepreneurs; Additional investments in training, mentoring, and apprenticeship programs designed to help Black men find jobs in high-demand industries; and the legalization of recreational marijuana combined with a concerted effort to make sure that blacks can access wealth and jobs in that market.
“This agenda is the further implementation of Vice President Harris’ Opportunity Economy, in which Black people are equipped with the tools to thrive: buy homes, provide for our families, start businesses and build wealth,” Harris-Walz campaign co-author. – Chairman Cedric Richmond said.
Black men have historically overwhelmingly voted for Democratic candidates, with voter turnout typically lagging behind that of black women, but consistent nonetheless. This cycle, polling shows a historic gender gap, with Trump leading men of all races. Republicans are trying to capitalize on this development, raising concerns among Democrats about a potential — albeit marginal — shift in Black voter sentiment.
Given the razor-thin margins in battleground states, even the relatively small decline in Black male support for Harris could be significant.
Nearly 90% of black men voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, but a new New York Times/Siena College request 78% now plan to vote for Harris, while 15% support former President Donald Trump.
And more recently, Howard University A survey of black voters In battleground states, 82% of those voters said they would vote for Harris, 12% said they would vote for Trump, and another 5% said they were undecided. According to that poll, Trump’s gains were most pronounced among black men under the age of 50, with more than 20% of them saying they plan to support the former president this November.
Former President Barack Obama demonstrated concern about these polling trends when he called for flat support for Harris among blacks during an event in Pittsburgh last week.
“On the other hand, there is someone who is constantly disrespecting not only communities, but you as a person. And you think about sitting and standing and you give all kinds of reasons and excuses,” said Obama. “I have a problem with that because part of it makes me think — I’m talking directly to men — part of it makes me think, well, you just don’t feel the idea of having a woman. This is the president, and you have to offer other alternatives and other reasons for it. you do.”
Several prominent black Republicans pointed to Obama’s remarks as evidence of Democrats’ feelings about black voters, and slammed the former president for punishing black men as misogynists instead of considering what might be legitimate criticisms of the Democratic Party.
Senator Tim Scott, RS.C., ‘He proves our point’ placed In X in response to Obama. “Yes, black voters are leaving the Democratic Party, but not for the ugly reasons he says. It’s enough for them.”
Black Men for Trump, an advisory board the Trump campaign launched in September to help with messaging and programming, called Obama’s remarks “insulting.”
“Black Americans are not monolithic, and we do not owe our votes to any candidate just because they ‘look like us.’ “To say that we cannot appreciate a candidate’s experience is an understatement,” the board wrote.
Trump himself interpreted Obama’s comments as an acknowledgment of his dominance with the voting block. places on it social media platform, “Obama Admits General Lack of Enthusiasm About Kamala, Especially Black Men.”
Asked about Obama’s comments during an interview with The Shade Room online news site, Harris reiterated his plan to “win the black vote” and noted that Obama’s response also referred to the “threat” of Trump’s re-election.
A senior Harris campaign official told NBC News that they were “very, very supportive” of Obama’s comments and felt it started an important conversation around the voting choices of Black men.
“It opened up a permission structure for internal conversations, for people to speak with a certain dynamic, a certain segment of the electorate,” a campaign official said. “I think the conversation was useful. “The more black people see themselves at the center of the political discourse and understand the power they have in this election, the better.”
The Trump campaign is also benefiting from having black men at the center of the debate, confident of a broader message of prosperity and nostalgia for the pre-pandemic economy of a Trump presidency. high profile endorsements from people like rapper Lil Wayne, who will help the former president.
“Black men prefer to be the main breadwinner in the household and care about real wages and steady jobs. Finally, President Trump’s economic policies have offered more opportunities for Black families to build generational and lasting wealth, and voters of all ethnicities know that,” said Janiyah Thomas, Black Media Director for the Trump campaign.
The Trump campaign has held fewer Black-centric events and invested less in ads targeting that demographic, but the former president did attend a roundtable with Black business leaders in Atlanta ahead of a rally there in August. Two of his black allies, Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, also said in June that “Congress, Cognac and Cigars“The event in Atlanta is an event designed specifically to increase support for Trump among Democratic-leaning Black men.
Last month in Charlotte, North Carolina, Scott held the first in a series of Black Empowerment financial literacy events the campaign plans to hold in battleground states.
Harris’ focus on increasing his wealth as part of his outreach to black men is the result of a months-long effort to place an economic focus on Trump’s messaging.
In April, he launched a nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour, an avenue for the record pace of black business ownership and record-high Black unemployment that the Biden-Harris administration has overseen since taking office. It’s a winning strategy, according to Leo Smith, a political strategist who has conducted several focus groups of black men in Georgia.
“The vice president is doing a good job right now, which is a kind of counterculture to the Democratic Party. He is actually pushing an economic agenda for homeownership. He claims an economic agenda for business ownership. “When it comes to economic policy, he’s actually doing things that black people like Donald Trump,” Smith said.
That change helped him win over Black groups who were sometimes skeptical of Democratic candidates.
Last month, Justice Equality and the Economy PAC, a super PAC representing more than 50,000 Black men, He supported Harris’s campaign Two years after endorsing Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp over his Democratic challenger, Stacey Abrams.
Omar Ali, the PAC’s founder, said the endorsement came after conversations with several members of Harris’ team, both campaign surrogates and executive branch officials, including Dilawar Syed, the deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration and the highest-ranking Muslim official. in management.
“We presented our idea to change a few things within the policy to help small business and African American businesses. They are ready to listen to us, they are ready to agree that some things need to be changed, which was enough for us to feel comfortable considering that the other party will not meet with us,” said Ali.
Ali tried to schedule similar conversations with the Trump campaign, but after several conversations with low-level staffers in the campaign’s Georgia office, he was denied because it was “difficult” to reach any member of the campaign’s national staff.
Eventually, Ali was offered the opportunity to meet Trump at one of his rallies — for a photo op — an offer she called “extremely disrespectful.”
Trump’s campaign refused to comment on Ali’s comments.
Harris’ push for Black men comes amid a media blitz this month with Harris sitting for several interviews to reach out to black audiences.
On Sunday, after meeting with 50 black faith leaders and speaking at a predominantly black church in Greenville, North Carolina, Harris sat down for an interview with Roland Martin. That evening, he taped an interview with Justin Carter of The Shade Room.
On Tuesday, Harris will participate in a radio town hall with popular syndicated radio host Charlamagne tha God. Earlier this month, he also appeared on the All the Smoke podcast hosted by former NBA players Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes.
The Harris campaign also plans to expand its programs specifically designed to attract black men. This week, black men are gearing up to host Black Men Unite events in battleground states, NFL and NCAA watch parties with celebrities, influencers and activists. . The campaign’s Black voter engagement team will continue to host roundtable events at a barbershop in Milwaukee this week, drive CDs and hold a forum discussion for Black men.
Harris will endorse high-profile black entertainers and athletes, including musicians Jermaine Dupri and John Legend, who headlined campaign events in Atlanta in recent weeks, and NBA legend Magic Johnson, who co-chairs the campaign’s Athletes group. Harris coalition group.
“Our black people, we have to get them out to vote. This is number one. Kamala’s opponent made a lot of promises to black people last time that he didn’t deliver, and we need to help black people understand that,” Johnson said at a Harris rally in Flint, Michigan this month.