As the world anxiously waits to see who the next president of the United States will be, Black men have become a target of critics’ ire for increasing their support for President Donald Trump this year. For some it was seen as a gender divide.
“91% of Black Women voted for Biden because we love everyone. 20% of Black men voted for Trump because they hate Black Women. Thank you to the 80% of Brothers who stand with and for us,” tweeted Democrat Pam Keith, who lost her bid for the U.S. House in Florida’s 18th District.
However, Black men are not alone as polls show support for Trump also increased among Black women too. In fact, Trump doubled his support from Black women compared to his 2016 numbers.
Pundit and columnist Charles Blow made note of the increase on Twitter, “This is so personally devastating to me: the black male vote for Trump INCREASED from 13% in 2016 to 18% this year. The black female vote for Trump doubled from 4% in 2016 to 8% this year.”
The shift is likely a result of the fact that Biden and Democrats lost support from the Black community overall. Hillary Clinton outperformed Biden among Black men and women in 2016, according to CNN exit polls. Biden lost 3 percent of Black women voters and 2 percent of Black men voters compared to Clinton.
While it is too soon to determine the exact numbers, varying surveys say Trump garnered between 8 and 12 percent of the Black vote overall.
For example, according to a survey by AP VoteCast Trump received 8 percent of the Black vote, which is a 2 percent increase from 2016.
Pundits theorize there are various reasons Trump was able to garner more of the Black vote this year. He courted the Black community heavily in the final weeks of his campaign. In addition to touting record Black unemployment under his administration, Trump said he’d done the most for Black people of any president since Abraham Lincoln.
Trump also highlighted then-Sen. Biden-written 1994 crime bill, which disproportionately placed tons of Black Americans in prison, said Biden would raise taxes, and incorrectly said Biden called young Black people “super predators” (Hillary Clinton is actually the one who said this).
Despite Trump’s gains, most Black people still voted overwhelmingly Democratic, with polls gauging support at 87 to 90 percent among the group. The fact made some people come to Black men’s defense.
“The only group that voted more heavily for Dems than Black men was Black women. Folks placing so much emphasis on Black men voting Trump is problematic to me. The results would indicate Black men are less invested in white patriarchy than every other demo that isn’t BW,” tweeted artist Bree Newsome Bass.
“But folks are choosing instead to place enormous emphasis on Black men supporting Trump and highlighting individual, often wealthy Black men like Ice Cube instead of examining why BM oppose Trump more strongly than non-Black women,” Bass added.
Others pointed out Black men weren’t the only ones who baffled them by voting for Trump.
“Plenty of white people are going to yell at Latinos or Black men for voting for Trump but are too afraid to talk to their dad, their mom, their grandma, or their best friend from high school who voted for Trump. But that would make them uncomfortable,” added author Eric Michael Garcia.
“Attacking Black men who overwhelmingly voted for Biden, more than any other group except for Black women, yet is silent on white women and men, Latino women and men who voted in wayyy higher numbers than Black men who only voted 12% for Trump, but yes, single out Black men,” added user @NatomasSlimm.
