President Trump has sought to win over Black voters during the 2020 campaign, and a Rasmussen Reports survey released Thursday shows that his strategy may be working.
The daily tracking poll found 31% of likely Black voters would vote for Mr. Trump if the election were held today, ticking up steadily from 27% on Monday and 30% on Tuesday and Wednesday.
If that support pans out on Election Day, it would represent a huge improvement for Mr. Trump, who won just 8% of the Black vote in 2016, while Democrat Hillary Clinton took 88%.
The 31% figure drew plenty of skepticism. Several commentators on Twitter called the percentage unrealistic or “crazy,” while one quipped, “The only way that figure is realistic is if they polled six black people, and two of them were Clarence Thomas and Ben Carson.”
According a Sept. 8 report in FiveThirtyEight, polling suggests that “about 10 percent of black voters both nationally and in key swing states with large black electorates are supporting Trump.”
Rasmussen’s other daily surveys posted Thursday found that 52% of voters approve of Mr. Trump’s job performance, and that former Vice President Joseph R. Biden leads the president by a whisker at 48% to 47%.
The pollster reported that Mr. Trump led Democrat Hillary Clinton on the Thursday before the 2016 election by 45% to 42%.
Mr. Trump last month unveiled his “Platinum Plan” for the Black community, pledging to create three million jobs for Black workers and helped create 500,000 Black-owned businesses.
He has also accused Democrats, including Mr. Biden, of taking for granted Black voters — a traditionally reliable Democratic voting bloc — while Democrats have accused Mr. Trump of being racist, which he denies.
Oct 29, 2020 - Morning Reader Data Points:
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) October 29, 2020
“If the presidential election was held today, would you vote for Donald Trump or Joe Biden?”
National Daily Black Likely Voter % For @POTUS - October 26-29, 2020
Mon 10/26 - 27%
Tue 10/27 - 30%
Wed 10/28 - 30%
Thu 10/29 - 31%
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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