Why are Black voters backing Donald Trump in record numbers?

He was famously called the “former white supremacist in chief” by Democrat Congresswoman Cori Bush in 2021. Back in 2018, Hillary Clinton called former US President Donald Trump “ignorant” and “racist” after he reportedly made highly derogatory comments about Haiti and African countries.

Even Republican Nikki Haley, who recently dropped out of the race for the presidential nomination, called recent comments Trump made about African Americans “disgusting”.

What do the polls say?

In 2016, Trump received 8 percent of the Black vote according to the exit polls, the highest level of support by Black voters for any Republican since George Bush in 2000. By the 2020 US presidential election, support for Trump among Black voters had surged to 12 percent.

And, while current opinion polls vary, a recent survey from GenForward shows that if the elections were held today, 17 percent of Black voters would vote for Donald Trump while 20 percent said they would vote for someone other than Trump or Biden.

The Black voting bloc is unique in the US. Currently, it is the only group of voters which has consistently identified with the Democrat Party – reaching 77 percent of Black voters in favour of Democrats in 2020. By comparison, 42 percent of white voters and 63 percent of Latino voters identify as Democrats. Now, however, only 63 percent of Black voters – an all-time low since GenForward started collecting data in 1999 – say they will support Biden this year, according to the survey.

These numbers could spell trouble for Democrats in November’s presidential election, especially in swing states.

A supporter of then-President Donald Trump waves his sign at a rally at the Minden-Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nevada, in September 2020 since when Trump’s popularity with Black voters has increased [Lance Iversen/AP]

See more