White House liaison to Black voters leaves post

The White House’s liaison to Black voters, Trey Baker, left the administration on Monday, the White House confirmed.

Baker was a senior White House adviser for public engagement and left the administration to work at law firm Barnes & Thornburg as a partner. He will be based in the Washington office.

Bloomberg first reported the news.

Baker served as the national director for African American Engagement during Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, when he managed the campaign’s outreach plan to Black voters.

Before his time with President Biden, he worked for nearly three years as the city manager of Grenada, Miss., and had previously served as legislative assistant and counsel to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

Biden carried Black voters in the 2020 presidential election with 92 percent of the vote, according to Pew Research Center. A poll from June showed though that, while Black voters’ support for Biden remains the highest among most demographics, it has weakened since he took office.

Organizers have warned Democrats not to take Black voters for granted ahead of this midterm election and are worried that the party isn’t listening to the community’s concerns.  

Black voters have expressed frustration that Democrats overlook them until it’s too late, and that growing dissatisfaction could have an outsized impact on the party this election year.