Biden campaign seeks to halt slide with Black voters with new initiative

President Biden is launching a new effort to reach out to Black voters as polls show the president is losing ground with that key Democratic constituency to his rival, former President Donald Trump.

The Biden-Harris campaign on Wednesday announced an eight-figure spending blitz to drive engagement with Black student organizations, community groups and faith centers nationally and in battleground states as the president seeks to rally support for his reelection. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to speak at a rally in Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon for the first official “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” event.

“Today’s launch of the Black Voters for Biden-Harris coalition is yet another example of our campaign working diligently to earn every single vote. This coalition and the newly announced summer outreach and engagement programming serve as the next phase of our campaign’s ongoing historic investments in outreach to the backbone of the Biden-Harris coalition – Black voters,” said Quentin Fulks, the Biden-Harris campaign’s principal deputy campaign manager. 

“While we are busy putting in the work to earn Black America’s support — Donald Trump continues to show just how ignorant he is. Hosting janky rap concerts to hide the fact that he lacks the resources and competence to genuinely engage our community,” Fulks said.

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President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris arrive for a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, May 27, 2024. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Biden rally comes days after Trump held a rally in the Bronx, drawing as many as 10,000 people in the bluest part of deep blue New York City, according to law enforcement. In his speech, Trump emphasized that high inflation seen under Biden’s first term in the White House has had a disproportionate effect on Black and Hispanic families and vowed to turn the economy around if voters send him back to the White House. 

Trump’s decision to target minority voters in places like New York, where Republicans have not carried the state in decades, reflects the Trump campaign’s belief that Biden is showing weakness with key Democratic constituencies.

Polls back that theory up. A recent Fox News Poll found Biden with 72% support among Black voters, up from 66% in February, but lagging his 79% before the 2020 election. The November 2020 Fox News Voter Analysis found 91% of Black voters sided with Biden.

A New York Times/Siena poll of six battleground states found 76% of Black voters rate the economy today as “fair” or “poor,” while only 22% said it was “excellent” or “good.” The poll found that Black Americans, like other Americans, rank the economy as their No. 1 issue.

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U.S. Vice president Kamala Harris speaks during an event with U.S. President Joe Biden celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the Rose Garden of the White House May 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The Biden-Harris campaign promises to ramp up outreach to Black voters in the coming months to prevent that from happening. In addition to Wednesday’s rally in Philadelphia, Biden will join an event with Black-owned small businesses in the city and the campaign will put on an event with national organizations and local community members “focused on direct voter contact.”

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Throughout the summer, the Biden campaign will partner with Black groups to reach Black voters and build the campaign’s presence in swing states and register people to vote. 

“Our campaign believes that Black voters deserve to hear from Team Biden-Harris, and they deserve to have their vote earned, not assumed,” the Biden campaign said. “That’s exactly what we are doing through historic investments in Black media and outreach, creative engagement efforts, culturally competent content and innovative organizing initiatives. No campaign has valued Black voters like we have, including through investing earlier and with more money than ever before talking to Black voters.” 

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The Biden team also accuses Trump of “running on an anti-Black agenda” and “talking down to Black voters.” 

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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