As Obama campaigns for Harris, he has a tough crowd among young Black men
The former president is out stumping for Kamala Harris — but some young Black men say his message doesn’t resonate with them.
TUCSON, Ariz. — If there’s a prototypical Kamala Harris voter it might seem to be Charles Johnson, a 23-year-old Black college student.
Johnson is informed and politically engaged; he went to hear former President Barack Obama speak Friday at a Democratic campaign rally on the University of Arizona campus.
Yet he isn’t all that impressed with Obama, the nation’s first Black president, nor Harris, who would be the second. He says he’s leaning toward voting for Donald Trump.
“The media says he [Trump] is horrible and he’s racist and he’s going to bring us back, but he’s only gaining support with Black voters,” Johnson said in an interview. “He’s only gaining support with Black men.”
Democrats have been unnerved by recent polls that show Harris’ numbers sagging among Black voters, particularly young Black men. As he campaigns for Harris, one of Obama’s tasks is to persuade Black men like Johnson that voting for Trump would be a grievous mistake. In the remaining days before the election, he’ll be doing interviews with podcasters and various internet personalities who command a large Black following, an Obama aide said.
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