With less than one month to go before the election, all eyes will be on young Black men as polls suggest a slight, but potentially seismic, shift in traditional voting patterns could mean victory for Donald Trump.
The Republican nominee has been courting Black voters for several months, touting robust economic figures from his first term while warning illegal immigrants will take Black jobs. “What do you have to lose?’ he often asks them.
With polls indicating that message is resonating, Democrats are scrambling to reclaim what has been one of their most loyal constituencies, one some suggest has been taken for granted for far too long.
The message to the Trump-curious is clear: You have everything to lose if he wins.
Sunday night on “Inside with Jen Psaki,” longtime Democratic strategist James Carville became the latest Kamala Harris surrogate to sound the alarm bells about a second Trump term.
Asked why he believes voters should be scared of Trump, Carville told MSNBC host Psaki, “Just think of what we’ve learned the past 48 hours. … We had [former Trump National Security Advisor] Gen. [Michael] Flynn say that gates of hell are going to rain on Trump’s enemies when he wins.”
Adding, We had [former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman] Gen. [Mark] Milley say that [Trump] is a fascist to his core. We heard Trump on Fox this morning say he was going to use the military to round up his political enemies.”
“Trump has announced that he will be giving a speech at Madison Square Garden on October the 27th,” Carville continued. “Please Google Madison Square Garden, February the 10th, 1939, and see what happened there. They are telling you exactly what they are going to do. They are telling you we are going to institute a fascist regime.”
More than 20,000 people attended that rally, which took place before America entered World War II. The event stage featured a huge portrait of George Washington festooned with swastikas on each side.
Carville went several steps farther, offering perhaps the starkest preview yet of another Trump administration.
“By the way, if they win, they are going to correctly say, ‘We told you during the election what we’re going to do, you voted for us, you have greenlighted the whole thing,”’ he explained. “And if we don’t tell people about that, if they don’t — if these young Black men, how do you think they’re going to do? If you’re a young Black male, and Trump inspired an Army roundup of people, how well do you think you’re going to do in that?”
“You think you got nothing to lose? How ’bout looking at American history for one time and see what can happen here,” he added.
On X, formerly Twitter, many on the right, including the platform’s owner Elon Musk, ridiculed the Rajin’ Cajun, who was the chief strategist for Bill Clinton’s successful presidential run in 1992.
“Carville is cuckoo. What a nut,” he quipped in response to a clip posted by a user who identifies as an “anti-communist” and is followed by Musk.
PANIC: James Carville hyperventilates that Trump is mimicking N*zi rallies, warns that Trump plans to “round up” “young black men."
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 13, 2024
With three weeks to go, Democrats have officially turned the fear-mongering and incendiary propaganda dials up to 11.
"When I said that, I didn't… pic.twitter.com/5w5G5Z1yyU
“PANIC: James Carville hyperventilates that Trump is mimicking N*zi rallies, warns that Trump plans to ‘round up’ ‘young black men.’ With three weeks to go, Democrats have officially turned the fear-mongering and incendiary propaganda dials up to 11,” wrote the user.
“Flat out ridiculous,” wrote another user.
In growing numbers, young African-American men are in fact abandoning the Democratic Party. Harris now leads among Black men under 45 by 41 percent, which seems impressive until you compare it to past Democratic margins.
“You go back to November of 2012, what do you see?” CNN political analyst Harry Enten said Sunday. “You see [Barack] Obama by 81, [Hillary] Clinton only won them by 63. Then we’re all the way down to [Joe] Biden last time around by 53 — A tremendous drop already.”
Harris has lost support among Black men overall and even among Black women, according to CNN.
The trends have been evident for several months, but it wasn’t until recently that the Harris campaign showed a sense of urgency on the slippage.
The vice-president went on the offensive Monday, reminding Roland Martin how Trump and his father were once sued for not renting apartments to Blacks. Then there were his lies about Barack Obama’s birthplace, claiming, without any evidence, the 44th president was born outside the United States.
“And now you look at Black immigrants, legal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and he gets on a debate stage and says they’re eating their pets?” Harris said. “C’mon. This man is dangerous.”
Last week, former President Obama, appearing on behalf of the Democratic nominee, implored young Black men not to be seduced by Trump’s misogyny and bullying. Some critics suggested it was Obama doing the strongarming.
“Real strength is about working hard and carrying a heavy load without complaining,” Obama said at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. “Real strength is about taking responsibility for your actions and telling the truth even when it’s inconvenient. Real strength is about helping people who need it and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves. That is what we should want for our daughters, for our sons!”
So is Carville, as he said, “not making this up”?
That depends on whether Trump can be taken at his word. If so, there may be reason to be alarmed.
Over the weekend the former president vowed to use the military against the “enemy within” the United States.
“We have the greatest military in the world, but you have to know how to use them,” Trump told rallygoers Saturday in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado. “It’s the enemy from within. All the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That’s a bigger enemy than China and Russia!”
One day later, the GOP nominee once promised supporters he will carry out mass deportations of immigrants, including some who came to the U.S. legally.
“I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Can you imagine?” Trump mused. “Those were the old days when they had tough politicians, have to go back that long. Think of that, 1798. Oh, it’s a powerful act. You couldn’t pass something like that today.”
Trump on the Alien Enemies Act of 1798: "Those were the old days when they had tough politicians … you couldn't pass something like that today. Today we are politically correct." pic.twitter.com/T8nd2bAQes
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 13, 2024
And it’s also true that Gen. Flynn, a top Trump adviser expected to be in line for a top national security position, has promised stiff punishment, including death, for critics of the 45th president.
“There’s a way to get after this, but we have to win first,” Flynn said, according to Raw Story. “These people are already up to no good, so we gotta win first. We win, and then [Katy] Bar the door. Believe me, the gates of hell, my hell will be unleashed.”
Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee shut-down Carville’s claims.
“President Trump has promised to be a President for all Americans, and his agenda to lower costs, stop the migrant invasion, and secure our communities will benefit families of all backgrounds,” she told Newsweek. “No one cares about the false, incoherent ramblings of Jen Psaki and a reptilian, ancient Democrat operative on MSDNC.”
Believe them, Carville insisted.
“The Supreme Court has greenlighted it,” he said. “They were asked the question, if a Navy Seal is ordered to assassinate a political enemy — nothing wrong with that. That’s just part of his job.”
“They are telling you they’re doing all of this,” he continued.” Pay attention to them right now.”
