© 2024 Allbritton Journalism Institute

Black Voters Could Decide the Election. Only One Party Is Focusing On Them.

Former President Donald Trump talks about Black voters, but his party’s outreach efforts remain in early stages.

Biden Harris Black Voters AP-24150708414340
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris recently made a rare joint appearance to launch Black Voters for Biden-Harris. Joe Lamberti/AP

As the Biden campaign ramps up its efforts to shore up the Black vote, former President Donald Trump’s appeals to Black voters are still more about rhetoric than action.

The Republican Party’s minority outreach offices in battleground states have mainly been closed since Trump’s team took over in the spring, and plans for reopening have yet to be announced. Local county chairs in Michigan are reportedly struggling to find staff to fuel Republicans’ minority outreach centers across the state. A planned outreach campaign by a Republican group to Black voters in Georgia was pushed back by months, a source told NOTUS.

And Trump has been tied up with legal cases and felony convictions (although his allies have suggested it could help him appeal to Black voters).