Policy
During a recent focus group discussion at a black barbershop, MSNBC discovered that many African American voters are considering supporting former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
The group spoke with MSNBC's Tremaine Lee and explained why voting for Trump would be attractive to black voters.
Lee had to be surprised to learn that the men in the group or many of their close friends would avoid voting for President Biden.
Participants cited Trump's reputation as a “money man” and their own finances as reasons for their potential support. It's a sentiment that challenges the popular narrative that Trump's policies primarily benefit the wealthy and not working-class Americans.
MSNBC: “There are some people in your orbit who are either voting for Donald Trump or considering it?”
Voter: “Sure. A lot of my friends… are fine, we broke up with Biden, we weren't with Trump… With Trump, we had money.” pic.twitter.com/Q5IuAZ1nN7
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) February 2, 2024
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Black Voters Think Trump — Here's Why
Participants in a focus group for black barbershops held in Charleston, South Carolina, said they felt broke under President Biden, while they had money under Trump.
It's a feeling shared by many Americans.
“I think Donald Trump, for all the craziness that may be in his head, reads some of the things he's talking about about business that I can kind of agree with,” one voter told MSNBC. “Because I'm trying to grow my business.”
“Regarding Biden, I haven’t seen Biden really care about such actions.”
Another voter in the black barbershop focus group said that while he couldn't vote for Donald Trump personally, he knew plenty of people who could.
“There are some people in your orbit who are either voting for Donald Trump or thinking about it?” asks an angry Lee.
“Sure,” one of the men replied. “Obviously a lot of my friends are my age, so we're a little younger. We've only voted once for president, and Trump is kind of all we know.”
“They're saying, 'Well, we broke up with Biden.' “We were not with Trump.” And that's the one thing I hear over and over again: “With Trump, we had money.” “Okay, okay, I hear you guys. But personally and morally I couldn’t see myself.”
RELATED: New York Times alarmed by its own poll showing Trump getting support from black voters 'invisible…in the modern era'
Polls show that support may be there
a The New York Times A November poll shows Trump's support from black voters is approaching previously unheard-of levels.
The Times expressed concern that “Black voters — long a bulwark for Democrats and Mr. Biden — now record 22 percent support in these states for Mr. Trump, a level unprecedented in presidential politics for a modern-day Republican.”
However, experts who spoke exclusively to The Policy Insider were divided on the likelihood of minority voters being drawn to Trump.
I think it is too early to know whether this is a real reorganization or just a mirage. We saw similar claims in 2020, and there was no realignment among black voters, as Cornell University professor William Jacobson predicted.
Mark Mitchell, head of pollsters at Rasmussen Reports, sees the outlook as slightly more positive for Trump than Professor Jacobson.
“Our last matchup in 2024, Biden won black voters by only 22 points, and Trump won Hispanic voters by 23 points,” he said. “These are huge advantages for Trump over previous elections, and if they continue, they make Trump unbeatable.”
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