by Last month, in a room full of Washington’s most prominent Black conservatives, Donald Trump declared that Black voters are drawn to him because of his criminal indictment and firing squad.
Democrats quickly denounced his comments as “racist”. But some Black Republicans defended Trump, claiming that “life was better four years ago under his administration” because of certain initiatives during his presidency aimed at Black communities.
Related: Black and Hispanic voters are abandoning the Democratic party in large numbers, poll says
“No amount of media deception or liberal race baiting will sway the minds of Black voters who will cast their ballots this November for safer streets, greater financial well-being, a secure border and a total rejection of Joe’s disastrous tenure Biden,” Diante Johnson. , said the president of the Black Conservative Federation (BCF).
The incident puts a renewed spotlight on Black Trump supporters, focusing on how these voters reconcile their racism as the 2024 election approaches.
At the BCF gala on February 24, where 500 Republicans gathered, Trump accepted the group’s Champion of Black America award, emphasizing the support he received in Black communities and linking it to his criminality.
“A lot of people said that’s why Black people are like me, because they’ve been hurt so badly and they’ve been oppressed, and they looked at me like I’m being discriminated against… It was amazing but maybe, just maybe, there is something. .”
The former president continued, saying that his famous mugshot was mostly taken by the “Black population”, and claiming that Black people were “walking around” with him.
Trump, who is leading the Republican nomination for the 2024 election, has announced his intention to court Black voters, especially as polling shows growing dissatisfaction with Joe Biden.
On February 17, he released the limited edition Never Surrender High-Tops, a $399 pair of golden sneakers. Republican pundits claimed the flashy footwear was responsible for the “erosion” of Democratic support among Blacks: “This has to do with Black America. Because they love sneakers,” said Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo. Trump did not comment on the sneakers’ intended audience.
Weeks after Trump’s “mugshot,” a BBC investigation found that Trump supporters were circulating photos of Trump that created artificial intelligence with Black people. The images are not connected to the Trump campaign.
In response to her comments at the gala, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Trump “divisive and repugnant” during a press briefing last week, the Hill reported.
“Just being very nice here, it’s controversial, and it’s divided the traffic into racist stereotypes… It’s, again, divisive and repugnant, and obviously it comes from a former president of the United States, ” said Jean-Pierre.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), while non-partisan, also argued Trump’s comments as “sticky”.
“Donald Trump has been tricked into thinking that his criminality would be an attractive quality to Black voters. He took advantage of a system that is inherently racist, and Black Americans abused it. We are not the same,” NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement.
Andra Gillespie, a political scientist at Emory University, said Trump’s “flipping” comments fit the former president’s view of his relationship with voters as transactional.
“He’s making the claim, not that he deserves the trust of Black voters, but that he owes it to Black voters,” she said.
As for voter behavior, Gillespie thinks Trump’s latest remarks are unlikely to have a profound impact on Black support. “Most Black conservatives are Democrats”, said Gillespie, who wasn’t going to vote for Trump anyway.
“Conservative Black people are more likely to be Democrats because most of them still viewed the Republican party as problematic,” she said, referring to University of Texas at Austin professor Tasha Philpot’s theory on conservatives Black.
And vocal Black Trump supporters — like the gala attendees — are unlikely to stop supporting Trump, Gillespie argued.
But, she said, some of them might be less interested in campaigning for the former president.
“The question is going to be how enthusiastically Black Republicans might stick with Trump to support Trump,” Gillespie said.
“A lot of people in [that] viewers understand that when they try to campaign for Trump in their communities, somebody is going to bring this up.”
The former president will launch new ads targeting Black voters in Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania this week.
