Democrats are continuing to digest polls that suggest they are not doing as well with Black voters as in 2020.
A New York Times Siena College poll released earlier this month found Vice President Harris comfortably ahead of former President Donald Trump among Black male voters, 70% to 20%. The same poll found that 83% of Black women support Harris while 12% support Trump, and 78% of Black voters overall support Harris while 15% support Trump. What has some Democrats concerned is that figure is well below the 90% support Black voters had for President Joe Biden in 2020, and other polls have found similar results.
When Harris unveiled an “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men” last week, many took it as a direct response.
Meanwhile, powerful surrogate former President Barack Obama has faced some criticism for seeming to shame his peers who aren't showing full-throated support.
“You’re thinking about sitting out, or thinking about supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you?” He asked a group in Pennsylvania.
Here in New York, when it comes to the idea that support for Harris is slipping among Black voters, Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who leads Brooklyn Democrats isn’t buying it.
“We are all in for our Democratic nominee, who is Kamala Harris,” she said.
Not only that, she told Spectrum News 1 that the zeroing in of the political universe on Black men, in particular, is an oversimplification of an entire voting block. She said differences in voter concerns and demographics exist just as they do among any large group of voters, but in her experience enthusiasm for Harris has been strong.
“We don’t want to lump this enormous voting segment in one monolith,” she said.
She argued that the impact of issues like racism and mass incarceration mean their place in the overall electorate is still not fully understood.
“Black men are participating in the voting process even more, things are changing for the better,” she said.
While Stefan Mychajliw, GOP strategist and former spokesperson for former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy insisted that any polling shift towards Trump likely isn't about race at all.
"I don't think this presidential campaign is about Black or white, it's about the color green: money," he said.
He feels that no matter the voting block, Harris' economic messaging is simply weaker than previous Democratic candidates like Obama.
"People feel as though they had more money in their pockets when President Trump was in office than the past three and a half years when Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have run the white house,” he said.