Dated 2001 picture of Donald Trump and Al Sharpton
Nationwide — Real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, says he feels very confident that he can win the Black vote. However, he recently spoke at an event affiliated with the South Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce in Charleston, and very few local Black business leaders even showed up.
Reportedly, his audience was mostly white and barely filled the room, but they were excited about his speech. But according to MSNBC, “black conference-goers looked on with far less enthusiasm.”
Despite this, Trump recently insists, “Generally, Republicans do not do well with African-Americans. But I have a lot of friends, African-Americans in New York…”
Trump has even cited a recent poll from SurveyUSA, which claims that he has support from 25 percent of black respondents in a match-up against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. He insists thats all he needs to win the general election.
Can he really win the Black vote?
Well, only time will tell. But other polls do not indicate that he has a lot of support from black voters. For example, a recent Quinnipiac University poll indicates that Trump got only 3 percent of black support in a match-up against Clinton.
But in a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, Trump had the biggest support from black Republicans and independents.
Historically, no!
Republican candidate typically struggle with the Blcak vote. In fact, in recent general elections, Republican presidential candidates have won only a very small portion of the black vote. For example, George W. Bush won just 11 percent of black voters in 2004, and Mitt Romney received about 6 percent in 2012.