Biden campaign defends dip in support from Black voters

The Biden campaign on Sunday defended the dip in support of President Biden from Black voters, arguing the Biden administration has done the most for the African American community.

Pressed by ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz on the dip in support among Black voters, Quentin Fulks, the principal deputy campaign manager for the Biden campaign, said, “Well, I think what a lot of people are expressing is urgency.”

“They sense a sense of urgency because of the threat that Republicans pose to, you know, America right now, and that’s precisely why the president and the vice president are running for reelection to make sure that that doesn’t happen,” Folks continued. “When it comes to African American voters, I want to be very clear about this, that no administration has done as much for the African American community as President Biden and Vice President Harris.”

Fulks pointed to the increase in the Black wealth gap and claimed the racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s “ever been in recorded history.”

Multiple polls in recent months have shown Biden struggling with Black voters. A November poll by The New York Times and Siena College found that 22 percent of voters in six battleground states said they would support former President Trump in this year’s election. While 71 percent of Black voters said they would support Biden, the numbers for Trump are the highest percentage a Republican presidential candidate has seen in a half-century.

One in five Black voters said they would vote for “someone else” rather than Biden or Trump in the 2024 presidential election, according to a GenForward survey released last month.

Fulks on Sunday touted a series of actions taken for the African American community and claimed the campaign has attempted to send a “clear signal” to these voters that they understand the importance of their vote.

“We’ve come out of the gate with very large buys targeted at African American voters, organizing in their communities to send a clear signal that one, we don’t take them for granted; two, we recognize that we need to earn their support in this campaign, and communicate with them all the way that what’s this administration has — all the work that this administration has done to make their lives better, and that has to also be in juxtaposition to the contrast of what, you know, the Republicans are putting forward,” Fulks said.

Fulks argued Republicans have “ripp[ed] away health care,” and he reminded viewers of Republicans’ vow to repeal the Affordable Care Act.