DETROIT — Former President Donald Trump’s campaign launched its Black Voter Coalition on Saturday, Trump’s clearest effort yet to reach a voting bloc that overwhelmingly supported Democrats in previous elections but has been unusually open to Trump in polls. public.
The announcement came ahead of a community roundtable at 180 Church, a predominantly black worship center in Detroit. Black Republicans at the Trump event included former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Florida, and John James, R-Michigan. Trump said at the event that Donalds “just so happens to be on the list of potential vice presidents,” asking the crowd, “Would anyone like to see him? I noticed his name is at the top of the list”.
“Historic rates of Black voters now support President Trump, and the reason is simple: Black voters know that President Trump is the only presidential candidate who can deliver results on Day One because he already has,” the Trump campaign said in a statement announcing the launch of his “Black Americans for Trump” effort, touting unemployment rates and household income levels for Black people during his presidency.
The new Trump coalition group marks an attempt by Trump to mirror the black outreach efforts of President Joe Biden’s campaign, which has so far invested millions of dollars in hiring, organizing and paid media outlets exclusively designed to engage his black voter base. .
The Biden-Harris campaign launched its own black voter coalition, “Black Voters for Biden-Harris,” in Philadelphia in late May. The event marked a rare joint appearance for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who credited Black voters with being crucial to his 2020 victory.
At that event, Biden and Harris sought to frame Trump as a threat to Black American progress and addressed several of Trump’s past controversies.
“What do you think he would have done on January 6th if Black Americans had invaded” the Capitol, Biden said at the event. “I don’t think he would be talking about pardons. This is the same guy who wanted to tear gas you while you were peacefully protesting the murder of George Floyd. The same guy who still calls the Central Park Five guilty even though they were cleared.
In a statement, Biden-Harris spokeswoman Jasmine Harris said: “Donald Trump thinks the fact that he has ‘lots of black friends’ justifies a lifetime of denigrating and disrespecting black Americans, but black voters know better – and Trump’s last-minute attempt at black ‘outreach’ fools no one.”
In a recent television ad, the Biden campaign also suggested that Trump was an “enemy” of black voters. He referred to the former president as “a classic racist who disrespects and attacks the black community whenever he can.”
However, Trump, during the Detroit roundtable, framed Biden as a threat to Black Americans, referring to his role as author of the 1994 crime bill.
“He’s out there now talking about the black vote – he’s the king of the ‘superpredators,’” Trump said. “He wrote the 1994 crime bill that you all talk so much about, I think everyone here knows that, especially if you’re black.”
The former president’s supporters say the current political environment is ripe for Trump to make inroads with black voters, and the launch of Trump’s coalition group is the latest effort to reach out to younger black men, in particular, who seem more willing to listen to your message.
Trump’s black outreach this election cycle began in February, when he headlined the Black Conservative Federation’s annual gala ahead of the South Carolina Republican primary.
The group plans to continue supporting the former president’s black outreach efforts. The Black Conservative Federation held a free community barbecue before Trump’s event in Detroit and plans to hold similar events throughout June as it follows Trump at events in cities with large black populations.
It was at that February Black Conservative Federation event that Trump began spreading a narrative now popular among Republicans that his legal cases could boost his appeal with black voters.
“I was indicted a second time, a third time and a fourth time, and a lot of people said that’s why black people like me, because they were seriously hurt and discriminated against, and they actually saw me as me. I am being discriminated against,” Trump said at the time.
Months later, Trump’s belief in this theory has only grown stronger. The former president held one of his most racially diverse rallies in the Bronx, New York, in the final days of the New York trial of silence.
The belief has also been perpetuated in part by Trump’s support for popular figures in black culture, including rappers Sexxy Red, Kodak Black and 50 Cent. During a visit to the Capitol last month, 50 Cent spoke about Trump’s stance on black men.
“I see them identifying with Trump… because they were charged with RICO,” the rapper said.
Trump has recently recruited local rappers to participate in his events. Detroit rapper Sada Baby, whose 2020 single “Whole Lotta Choppas” went viral on TikTok, was invited by the Trump campaign to participate in the Detroit roundtable.
But other black voters were turned off by Trump’s claim that community members identify more with him because of his overlapping court cases, suggesting the claim is rooted in stereotypes at best and racist at worst. Undecided Black voters who spoke to NBC News as part of a focus group in February said they found the comment offensive.
“I don’t know of any African-American man who has paid money to cover up sexual infidelity,” said El-Mahdi Holly of Georgia. “It would benefit him to realize that we don’t engage in the type of activities he finds himself in generally.”
Following the closure of several minority Republican National Committee centers earlier this year, some black Republicans privately expressed concern about the lack of campaign infrastructure in predominantly black cities and the effect that could have on newly interested black voters. on Trump.
James, the Michigan congressman, said he told Trump during a White House meeting “years ago” that Republicans previously had not “made enough of an investment” in black outreach to generate a return.
“We need to show up, and that’s why we’re here today,” James said. “We need to be like the original Republicans, who were willing to be uncomfortable for the purpose of freedom.”
Before the launch of Trump’s coalition group, Trump’s black outreach largely centered on quick stops at businesses in predominantly black areas, including a stop at a Chick-fil-A in Atlanta where he was greeted by several students of historically black colleges and universities.
Michaelah Montgomery, the organizer of that Chick-fil-A visit that went viral for hugging Trump, said some HBCU students who were photographed with Trump later faced bullying and ostracism from some of their peers.
“My students faced relentless bullying when news of our CFA meeting broke. They were ostracized by their peers, donors threatened to withdraw their donations, people said they were embarrassing their institutions,” said Montgomery.
Now, many of the president’s black supporters feel there has been a change. Trump hosted nearly a dozen Atlanta HBCU students for dinner at his Florida resort earlier this month.
Trump’s campaign to win over black voters will be supported by several of his allies, including several vice presidential candidates.
Sen. Tim Scott announced a “full-blown” $14 million black voter outreach campaign that will focus on reaching low-propensity black and Latino voters in swing states ahead of the election.
Donalds and fellow Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, held a “Congress, Cognac & Cigars” event in Philadelphia earlier this month for a “real conversation about the black male vote.” The two will hold a similar event in Atlanta later this month.
And Trump plans to hold his next rally in Philadelphia next Saturday, an event that will serve as yet another opportunity for the former president to sharpen his message to black voters.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
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