Recent coverage from The Wall Street Journal indicates a decline in President Joe Biden’s popularity among African American voters. Michelle Smith, a 46-year-old Philadelphia resident who voted for Biden in 2020, expressed her disillusionment with his administration. Working as a home health aide and supplementing her income with Instacart deliveries, Smith faces financial challenges due to rising costs and rents, leading her to reconsider her support in the upcoming 2024 election. This sentiment echoes among many minority voters who played a crucial role in Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in 2020.
The 2022 midterm elections saw a noticeable drop in African American voter turnout, signaling disenchantment with Biden’s economic strategies and governance. The economic downturn is hitting African American communities particularly hard, with wage growth lagging significantly behind previous years’ figures.
While there’s concern among Democrats about these voters potentially leaning towards Republicans and Trump in the next election, Smith mentioned she might abstain from voting entirely.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported on November 6 that recent surveys reveal a growing detachment of Black voters from the Democratic Party, a trend not seen in decades. A joint poll by The New York Times and Siena College highlighted an increase in Trump’s support among Black voters in key battleground states, a significant jump from his 8% share of the Black vote in 2020.
Democrat strategist Celinda Lake, who worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign, acknowledged the need to better communicate the party’s achievements to the African American community, especially young men. The aim is to boost voter turnout and support among this demographic.
Despite the rise in support for Trump, analysts and Democrat commentators are more worried about a possible low voter turnout in the Black community for the 2024 election. Cornell Belcher, a former pollster for President Barack Obama, expressed his concern not about Trump gaining more support from Black and Brown voters, but about the potential for decreased turnout in these communities.
