Georgia’s Black voters could play key role as Biden, Trump vie for support ahead of Atlanta debate – Georgia Recorder

Samuel Warren, a Black retiree from southwest Georgia who cuts grass for extra income, recently explained the financial results of why he plans to vote for Republican Donald Trump over President Joe Biden during their impending rematch on November 5.

Warren’s preferred candidate in this year’s presidential election contrasts with the typical black voter in swing states like Georgia, where 88% of black voters voted for the Democrat’s Biden-Harris ticket in the presidential election of 2020 which was decided by less than 12,000 votes.

The Trump and Biden presidential campaigns have made a concerted effort to woo the black vote during recent visits to metro Atlanta, a far cry from Warren’s home in rural Ellaville, a town of about 2 000 inhabitants, about a third of whom are black.

“I don’t care too much about Biden, Trump was fine. Trump helped people,” Warren said earlier this month while stopping at the Gas N Go in Ellaville for a cold drink. “He helped people. I got my stimulus check, but Biden got in there, I got nothing.

“He not only helped me, he helped the rest of us, not only black people, but white people as well,” Warren said. “Biden walked in there and we have nothing. They always say “we’re going to get it, we’re going to get it.”

If Warren and other black voters abandon their usual support for Democrats on their ballots, it could make the difference in a general election in Georgia that is expected to be decided by a small portion of the electorate.

The stakes are high for the two recent occupants of the White House as they head to a key country. televised debate in Atlanta later this week.

The Republican Party has gained ground in Georgia since the last election, and perceptions about the high costs of inflation have caused some black voters to lose enthusiasm for Biden. Several political experts say the Biden-Harris ticket risks losing some votes to Trump, but the more likely outcome is that more apathetic left-wing voters won’t show up to the polls.

Trump and Biden easily won the March 12 presidential primaries in Georgia, where 95% of black voters chose a Democratic ballot, a figure consistent with the 2016 and 2020 primaries.

In recent months, Trump, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have made campaign stops throughout the Georgia campaign trail to courting black votersas well as a key youth demographic.

According to a May 20 poll conducted by Pew Research CenterThe Democratic Party has lost the support of black college graduates in recent years, falling from 93% in 2012 to 79% in 2023. While 7% of black voters 50 and older identify as Republican or somewhat Republican, 17% black voters under 50 do. the same.

“Black voters will play a key role in determining the outcome of the 2024 presidential election,” wrote Kiana Cox, Pew senior researcher on race and ethnicity. “And even though black voters remain overwhelmingly Democratic and largely support Joe Biden over Donald Trump, Biden’s advantage among this group is not as wide as it was four years ago.”

Several recent national polls forecasting the 2024 presidential election indicate strong support for Trump among black voters in swing states like Georgia. A New York Times/Siena national poll indicates that 23% of black voters favor Trump, which would be a significant victory for a Republican Party that has not received this level of black support for its presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1960, according to Alan. Abramowitz, professor emeritus of political science at Emory University.

“Of course, none of this evidence proves that there won’t be a dramatic increase in Black support for Donald Trump and other Republican candidates in 2024 – and even a slight increase could be significant given the proximity of the states keys in November. Abramowitz wrote in a March 27 article published by the Center for Politics. “It is possible that recent polls nationally and in key states are repeating a trend that has only begun since the 2022 midterm elections. »

Trump-Biden campaign stops in Georgia

On May 18, Biden delivered a commencement speech at Morehouse College in Atlanta, a historically black college, where he highlighted the record amount of federal money invested in colleges serving minority students during his first term in the White House.

As Biden renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, about 100 demonstrators marched near campus to protest his appearance, largely because of his continued support for Israel in its war against militant groups led by Hamas.

On June 18, Harris made her sixth visit to Georgia this year to discuss how to reduce gun violence in black communities at a youth summit in Atlanta hosted by Quavious “Quavo” Marshall, a member of the former rap group Migos.

A few days earlier, Harris was in Atlanta for a individual interview with television host Steve Harvey in front of an audience of several thousand people at the 100 Black Men of America national conference. Harris stressed the importance of making more Black voters aware of the various economic investments made under the Biden-Harris administration, while advocating for their support in the upcoming election.

In April, Trump’s visit to a West Atlanta Chick-fil-A, near the campuses of several historically black colleges and universities, became a nationally viral moment. During the former president’s campaign, Trump bought milkshakes for his customers and posed for photos in front of an audience of mostly black staffers, college activists and customers.

Similarly, Trump’s Super PAC, Make America Great Again, is targeting black voters in central Georgia with television ads claiming that Biden’s economic and immigration policies are expected to cause him to lose the support of black, Hispanic and young people.

Rasheed Canton, who graduated from Morehouse in May, said Biden and Harris endorsing a student loan forgiveness program that provided billions of dollars in debt relief was a good way for them to bring in young black voters to the polls in November.

“From a political standpoint, choosing not to vote is like voting against what you believe in, because you are giving power to the other side by not showing up,” Canton said.

“Student loan forgiveness impacts (blacks) disproportionately, but I know it’s very difficult for an administration to say ‘we’re doing this for blacks’ because we only represent 12 or 13 % of (U.S.) population at most,’” Canton says. “But when you can sell programs that have been beneficial to everyone, it’s powerful.”

Polls suggest Biden is trailing Trump in Georgia

Black residents of Georgia accounted for nearly half of the 1.9 million increase in the number of eligible voters in the state since 2000, according to Pew.

The New York Times released a poll earlier this month that found 26% of respondents aged 18 to 29 expressed support for Biden, while 30% said they would vote for Trump. A Fox News national survey released June 19 indicates that Trump could receive 27% of the black vote in November, three times as many as in the 2020 election. However, in 2020, a similar poll by Fox News predicted that Biden would get 79% of the black vote, but he actually won 92% of them.

Other polls this year show that support for Biden is declining in Georgia.

The New York Post’s front page on Friday featured a recent poll showing Trump leading Biden in key states and Thursday’s poll. Emerson College/The Hill Survey a survey found Trump leading Biden in Georgia 45% to 41%.

In a Pew survey conducted in May, 77% of black registered voters preferred Biden to Trump. However, about half of those respondents said that if given the chance to choose, they would prefer to replace both candidates with someone else.

Retiree Vincent Thornton, born and raised in Ellaville, described Trump as a “so-so” president during his previous term and said he was supporting Biden this year.

Thornton said Trump’s recent felony convictions in connection with falsifying business records to hide secret payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels factored into his decision.

“I just look at what he’s done for all the crimes he’s committed. And I don’t understand why if he can commit crimes and still run for president, and if a person here, like a poor person like me, is the victim of a crime or something like that, he can’t not vote.

Reporter Ross Williams contributed to this report.