President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden during a ceremony to honor the 2014 National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) TOP COPS in East Room of the White House in Washington,May 12, 2014. (AP Photo)
The Democrats have been slowly losing the support of Black voters, as indicated by poll after poll. Black voters have been feeling frustrated with and underappreciated by the party. And this doesn’t bode well for President Joe Biden as he seeks re-election and is counting on Black people to turn out and vote him in once again.
Here are seven facts and numbers about the declining Black American support for Biden.
When Biden was elected, there was an expectation that many issues concerning the Black community would be resolved. Now, nearly four years later, most have not been addressed, say some Black voters. And they consider that Biden has only delivered broken promises.
Among the issues are reparations, stronger federal protections against restrictive voting laws, student loan debt relief and criminal justice, and police accountability measures. All legislation surrounding these issues has failed or stalled.
“Folks are just tired of being tired, Travis Williams, a Democratic organizer in Dorchester County, South Carolina, told The New York Times. “They’re just sick and tired of being tired and disappointed whenever our issues are never addressed.”
Black voters frustrated with the Democrats and unwilling to vote Republican have decided to just not vote. Data from the 2022 midterm elections suggests that turnout was down among Black and Hispanic Americans compared to the 2018 midterms. In essence, Biden’s appeal could be slipping among Black voters.
The numbers don’t lie. Biden’s approval has seen a dramatic drop among Black Americans since he took office in January 2021. After a major dip, Biden’s approval did recently see a slight recovery among Black Americans–rising from an average of about 60 percent approval in July 2022 to an average of around 70 percent in April 2023, FiveThirtyEight reported.
Has Biden’s policies helped or hindered the Black community? Numbers show that many Black voters are wondering which.
According to a recent Ipsos/Washington Post poll, only 34 percent of Black Americans say that Biden’s policies have helped Black people, while 14 percent say they’ve hurt Black people. Nearly half (49 percent) say they haven’t made a difference.
Some in the Black community just don’t want Biden to seek re-election. A YouGov/Economist poll conducted from April 29 to May 2 revealed that less than half (46 percent) of Black respondents want Biden to seek a second term, compared to 54 percent of Democrats overall.
In 2020, Black voters rallied around Biden, especially in South Carolina. In fact, voters there are said to have “rescued” his bid for the presidency, ABC News reported.
Biden got off to a lackluster start in 2020 until Black voters in South Carolina got behind Biden. But now, the enthusiasm has worn off, say some observers.
The most recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds Biden’s 58 percent current approval rating among Black adults is well below where he began. Roughly 9 in 10 Black adults approved of Biden over his first months in office.
Bide has lost most of his support from the Black community specifically. An NBC News poll discovered Biden’s approval rating among Black voters decreased the most, going from 83 percent last April to a low 64 percent currently. There’s even more evidence as Quinnipiac University’s surveys point to a similar trend, with Biden’s Black support decreasing from 78 percent to 57 percent over the course of his first year in office.
Despite this alarming drop in support from Black voters, observers say Biden doesn’t seem to have a plan as of yet.
“But any viable strategy for stanching Biden’s bleeding with such voters will likely begin with the recognition that their priorities and concerns cannot be gleaned from those of highly engaged, ideologically coherent Black Democrats,” New York magazine reported.
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden pose for photographs with members of law enforcement during a ceremony to honor the 2014 National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) TOP COPS in East Room of the White House in Washington, May 12, 2014. (AP Photo)
