Right-wing media outlets have been claiming that Black voters are moving to presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump in big numbers. More and more Black voters, the claim goes, are realizing that they were better off under Trump's presidency than they have been under President Joe Biden.
But a group of Black male swing voters who got together in Atlanta on June 26 paint a very different picture.
Those voters, according to The Guardian's George Chidi, are wary of Trump but aren't necessarily sold on giving Biden a second term either.
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One of them was Marc Boyd, an independent who, according to Chidi, "cast a blank ballot" when Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) was unsuccessfully challenged by GOP nominee Herschel Walker in 2022.
Boyd told The Guardian, "When I came in and saw the doggone sign 'Blacks for Trump' or whatever, I'm like: Well, that's the okey-doke. But I'm going to get their a**."
Boyd, Chidi notes, holds a variety of liberal and conservative views — from being critical of gun control to pushing for racial justice. And he has little patience for the "Trump okey-doke."
The June 26 event, which Trump called into, was held at Rocky's Barbershop in Atlanta's Buckhead area.
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According to Chidi, "Since the night of the debate, Rocky Jones, owner of Rocky's Barbershop where Trump called in, says he was misled into hosting the event, which he thought would be a forum for Black businesses."
Chidi points out that Black voters in Georgia, which has evolved into a swing state after being deep red for decades, are crucial for Biden's reelection campaign.
"Much has been made of the purported gains Trump has made with Black voters in polls," Chidi explains. "Those polls are questionable: a collapse in response rates has been coupled with tiny sample sizes and statistically illiterate reporting to present the impression of a meaningful shift. But small gains will matter in a state like Georgia, where about 30 percent of the electorate is Black."
Chidi adds, "Black men have long been more likely to vote for Republican candidates than Black women are. They are also far less likely to vote, noted Stephanie Jackson Ali, policy director for the New Georgia Project."
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ReadThe Guardian's full article at this link.
