With less than two weeks before Election Day and with more than 10 million ballots already cast in early voting, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump issued an appeal to African American voters, promising at a North Carolina stump speech to be that community’s “greatest champion”. “I will never ever take the African American community for granted. Never, ever.” Speaking to a predominantly white crowd, Trump said if elected he would push for school choice to help improve failing inner city public schools, and take measures to cut crime and reduce poverty. “Some of our inner cities are more dangerous than the war zones,” Trump said, arguing that some neighborhoods with high levels of violent crime should be declared disaster areas. African Americans are a reliably Democratic voting bloc, backing Democratic presidential candidates by wide margins in every election for more than half a century. In the latest Investors Business Daily poll, Trump netted the support of 7% of blacks, 1% higher than Mitt Romney’s performance among that demographic in 2012. While Trump is unlikely to cause a significant shift among black voters, he may not have to. Despite the marginal level of support for the Republican among African Americans, Trump’s election opponent Hillary Clinton is fairing far worse among blacks than her predecessor. While Barack Obama won 93% of black votes in 2012 and 95% in 2008, the IBD poll shows Clinton at just 80% among blacks. In an election where a majority of voters are casting their ballots more out of fear of the rival candidate than support for their own, Trump’s appeal to black voters may help reduce turnout in the traditionally Democratic group – or encourage middle class white voters concerned with racial issues to back his campaign.
