Former president Donald Trump‘s gains with Black voters have been eroded since Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and Vice President Kamala Harris became the expected Democratic nominee, according to polls.
Biden endorsed Harris shortly after announcing that he was ending his re-election bid on Sunday. It came after weeks of calls for him to step aside after a disastrous debate performance against Trump, the Republican nominee, raised concerns about his ability to win in November and serve a second term.
Top Democrats quickly coalesced around Harris and by Monday evening, she had secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee, The Associated Press reported.
If she is nominated at the Democratic National Convention next month, Harris would be the first woman of color—she is of Black and South Asian descent—to top a major party’s ticket.
Polling in recent months indicated that Biden was losing support among Black voters, who were crucial to his 2020 victory. In 2020, 92 percent of Black voters had voted for Biden, while about 8 percent backed Trump.
Polling conducted since Harris announced her candidacy suggests Black voters who had grown disenchanted with Biden may be energized by the prospect of a historic Harris presidency.
A CNN poll conducted on July 22 and 23, surveying 1,631 registered voters who had previously participated in CNN polls in April and June, found that Harris had the support of 78 percent of Black voters, while Trump had 15 percent. A previous poll had 23 percent of Black voters backing Trump, while 73 percent backed Biden.
Meanwhile, an ActiVote survey, conducted between July 21 and 23, found Black voters were overwhelmingly backing Harris—90 percent said they were supporting Harris, while 10 percent were backing Trump.
The Trump and Harris campaigns have been contacted for comment via email.
Harris has seen a show of support from the Black community since announcing her candidacy. About 90,000 Black women logged onto a video call for her campaign on Sunday night, while a “Black Men for Harris” online streaming event drew tens of thousands who pledged to support Harris, according to the AP.
On Wednesday night, Harris addressed members of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta in Indianapolis and thanked them for their work in electing her vice president and Biden president.
“And now, in this moment, our nation needs your leadership once again,” she said. “In this moment, I believe we face a choice between two different visions for our nation, one focused on the future, the other focused on the past. And with your support, I am fighting for our nation’s future.”
The Trump campaign has been courting Black voters, claiming that the former president’s legal challenges could endear him to Black Americans as they can relate to being targeted by an unfair criminal justice system. But some polls suggested Black voters were turning away from Trump after he became the first former U.S. president to be convicted of felony crimes earlier this year.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
