Trump success wooing black vote seen as key reelection clincher

Back in his first campaign, Donald Trump had a pretty audacious idea to win the black vote. But his pitch was a lackluster one.

At a rally in Dimondale, Michigan, he said, “What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump?”

It didn’t work. Running against a candidate endorsed by America’s first black president, Barack Obama, Trump got just 8% of the black vote, a surprise to the New Yorker who considered several blacks, such as boxing promoter Don King, friends and supporters.

In office, he has set to change that with economic policies, celebrity meetings, and criminal justice reform efforts. And in the last months of the campaign, his campaign and the Republican National Committee have supercharged that effort with a seven-figure blitz and focus on black media and historically black colleges and universities.

This time, it seems to be working. In several polls, Trump is picking up enough black voters to rob Joe Biden of the White House.

Democratic pollster John Zogby, in today’s “Forbes Poll powered by John Zogby Strategies,” puts support at 11%. He said they are “mostly young men” and driven by the “economy and possibly criminal justice reform.”

Rasmussen Reports said 41% of blacks approve of Trump.

And McLaughlin & Associates Jim McLaughlin told us Trump is also doing better with Hispanics. “POTUS is doing well with African Americans and Hispanics. Some surveys he is getting almost double what he got among blacks four years ago and getting 40% plus with Hispanics. Blacks and Hispanics are really attracted to the president on the economy, educational choice, public safety, and the Hispanics especially hate all this talk of socialism,” he said.

The 11%-14% of the black vote Trump could get on Election Day might seem awfully low, but many pollsters believe that it is enough to secure a victory.

Zogby recently said, “In 2008 and 2012, Barack Obama won 96% and 93% of the black vote. Hillary Clinton’s 89% to Trump’s 9% victory among blacks was not enough to win the presidency.” He added, “If Trump’s 14% total holds into November, this could hurt the Democratic nominee again in must-win in critical Rust Belt, along with Minnesota, Georgia, and Texas, which Biden hopes to win."

Insiders give the campaign and RNC the credit. Sure celebrities, such as rapper Lil Wayne, Don King, Jim Brown, and several prominent ministers, like Trump, but the hours and money put in by the campaign is building to a big payoff.

“President Trump’s tremendous record of accomplishment for the black community has propelled the RNC to engage with black voters in ways that we had not in quite some time, if ever,” GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Secrets.

“We are advertising in black media, have a targeted multi-state GOTV urban canvassing effort, and are flooding the airwaves with amazing black Republicans. The RNC is investing in these relationships, meeting voters where they are, and talking with them about our shared values. Black voters know who is fighting for them, and that’s going to be a difference-maker at the ballot box on Nov. 3,” she added.

Officials said that the black campaign is deep. In the latest move, the RNC is funding a $1 million-plus voter contact initiative to engage urban minority voters. It includes over 100 canvassing in urban cities in Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Florida. And that is in addition to the 3 million doors RNC volunteers are knocking through Election Day, said an official.

The campaign also has focused on black media, especially McDaniel and Paris Dennard, the RNC’s senior communications adviser for black media affairs, and other key black spokespeople such as Katrina Pierson.

They have promoted the president’s record on HBCUs, taxes, criminal justice reform, and school choice. Dennard has posted a list on the GOP website.

They have also noted policies and statements from Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris that would undercut advances for blacks.

For example, when Biden fumbled and said that blacks considering Trump “ain’t black,” Dennard and other Trump surrogates did 139 media hits.