President Trump told black supporters at a White House Black History Month event that his approval rating with the African American community should be higher.
“I just want to congratulate the black community because what you’ve done in the progress you’ve made over the last three years,” the president said at the Thursday night celebration.
“The African American poverty rate has plummeted to the lowest level in the history of our country,” Trump added. “These are good numbers. I don’t know. I mean, I should be at 100%, I hate to tell you, right?”
The comment comes as the Trump campaign is aggressively courting black voters ahead of the 2020 election. The campaign announced plans this month to open offices in African American communities in swing states.
“We see the numbers coming up in the polls and the demand on the ground when we do these types of events, so it’s really important that we take this next step and really bring those voters into the party,” Katrina Pierson, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign, said.
A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed Trump doubling his 8% support from black Americans, depending on his 2020 opponent.
