• New Biden-Harris adverts highlight ex-leader’s alleged failures
The prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House after the United States presidential election in November will be in focus, as innovators, investors and business leaders converge on Silicon Valley in California to discuss the future of Africa at the African Diaspora Investment Symposium (ADIS) today.
Already, some Africans have expressed worries about possible stricter migration policies and less cooperation with the continent, which defined Trump’s presidency between 2016 and 2020.
Way back in 2018, Hillary Clinton called Trump “ignorant” and “racist” after he reportedly made derogatory remarks 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.”
Recall that in 2018, Trump had referred to his Nigerian counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari, as ‘lifeless’ after their meeting. He had allegedly told aides: “I never want to meet someone so lifeless again.” The statement came months after his reference to Haiti and African countries as ‘shithole nations’.
The United States-Africa relations was, however, redefined by the Joe Biden presidency’s policy to invest massively on the continent in efforts to counter Chinese and Russian influence.
Last year alone, the American government supported and finalised 547 new deals, amounting to an estimated $14.2 billion in two-way trade and investment with African countries, representing a 60 per cent increase in both number and value of deals when compared with 2022.
However, as the country prepares for a rematch between Trump and Biden later this year, polls have shown that the former is only growing in popularity among Black American voters.
In 2016, he received eight per cent of the Black vote, according to exit polls, the highest level of support by Black voters for any Republican since George Bush in 2000.
Going by statistics of the 2020 presidential election, support for Trump among Black voters surged to 12 per cent. While current opinion polls vary, a recent survey by GenForward showed that if the elections were to be held today, 17 per cent of Black voters would go for Trump, while 20 per cent said they would vote for someone other than Trump or Biden.
The Black voting bloc is unique in the United States. Currently, it is the only group of voters that has consistently identified with the Democrat Party – hitting 77 per cent support base in 2020.
By comparison, 42 per cent of white voters and 63 per cent of Latino voters identify as Democrats. Now, however, only 63 per cent 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.
Also, a Gallup poll last year indicated that the proportion of Black adults in the U.S. who consider themselves Democrats have decreased from 77 per cent in 2020 to 66 per cent.
In the 2022 midterm elections, Biden largely retained the Black vote. But there was a considerable shift among Black voters towards the Republican Party – from eight per cent at the mid-term polls four years earlier to 14 per cent in 2022.
Historically, Democratic Party’s legacy with the civil rights
movement is what has kept it popular with Black voters.
However, younger Black voters do not have those same civil rights legacy attachment. To counter this, the Biden-Harris re-election campaign has launched two new television advertisements to highlight the “disaster” Trump would be for Black Americans if he were re-elected President.
The ads, ‘Back’ and ‘Price’ feature Biden, who was speaking directly to Black voters, to have noted: “As bad as Trump was, his economy was worse, and Black America felt it the most. He cut health insurance while giving tax breaks to the wealthy and big business. He stoked racial violence, attacked voting rights, and if reelected, vowed to be a dictator and get revenge. We can’t go back.”
The two promotions would run April 21 in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin ¬- four critical swing states. The Biden-Harris campaign also plans to air the adverts on Black-owned properties, including NewsOne, Blavity and The Shade Room, and on streaming platforms during basketball games in the NCAA tournament.
This is the second set of ads the Biden-Harris 2024 team has launched to speak directly to Black voters in battleground states. Principal Deputy Campaign Manager for the Biden-Harris Re-election campaign, Quentin Fulks, in a statement, said Trump was a “complete failure” for Black Americans.
