With the U.S. elections just months away, former President Donald Trump’s campaign is intensifying efforts to win over Black women voters.
One of their latest strategies is a video released on Wednesday featuring a group of Black women expressing their support for Trump.
Titled “I’m Not With Her,” the video showcases women from battleground states, some of whom criticize Vice President Kamala Harris for being out of touch with Black voters.
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“I, and millions of other Black Americans, will cast my vote for Donald J. Trump,” says Bebe Diamond of New York City in the video. Another woman from Kalamazoo County, Michigan, who remains unnamed, cites Trump’s “economic policies” during his presidency as her reason for backing him.
Trump’s campaign is acutely aware of the strong support Black women have historically shown for Democratic candidates, including their significant contribution to President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. Determined to make inroads, the campaign is leaving no stone unturned.
“Black voters have been taken for granted by the Democratic Party for years, but President Trump’s message is resonating at historic levels because he is doing the work and meeting voters where they are,” said Janiyah Thomas, director of the Trump campaign’s Black media outreach.
The women featured in the video, according to the campaign, include former Democratic and independent voters who have switched to the Republican Party in support of Trump, with many hailing from key battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, and Michigan.
The video is set to be widely shared across the Trump campaign’s social media platforms, including the “Black Voices for Trump” pages.
In response, Harris’ campaign has hit back, recalling Trump’s past attacks on Black women journalists and his dismissal of Sigma Gamma Rho, a historically Black sorority, as “unimportant.”
“Let’s not forget that the electric mobilization efforts we’ve seen across the country for the Harris-Walz ticket were led by tens of thousands of Black women who came together less than twenty-four hours after Vice President Harris launched her candidacy — raising seven figures for the new Harris for President campaign,” said Jasmine Harris, director of the Harris campaign’s Black media outreach.
This video follows a series of attacks by Trump and his campaign targeting Harris over her race and ethnicity.
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump remarked during a National Association of Black Journalists conference last month. “So, I don’t know. Is she Indian or is she Black?”
Trump acknowledges the challenge ahead in winning over Black women voters.
“It’s possible that I won’t do as well with Black women, but I do seem to be doing very well with other segments,” Trump said at a recent press conference at Mar-a-Lago.
