A New York Times focus group of eleven black men who support former President Donald Trump found deep respect for the presumptive Republican nominee and his record, defying claims by Democrats that Trump is a “racist.”
The focus group is part of a series aiming to discover what both Republicans and Democrats fail to understand about black men. (The Times has held similar focus groups with voters who support President Joe Biden.) The discussion covered issues from the economy to education, from border security to criminal justice reform. The participants ranged in age from 28 to 57 years old, and came from a variety of educational and employment backgrounds.
The Times noted:
Mr. Trump’s image as a celebrity businessman held real appeal for the men in our group. While some were turned off by his comments and policies early on, including his Muslim travel ban [sic], they said they came around as they watched him and learned about his record in office. They appreciated what they saw as his economic know-how, low inflation during his term and his law-and-order stances. His support for federal funding for historically Black colleges and universities came up repeatedly as evidence that Mr. Trump wasn’t racist. His recent felony convictions made some of them like him more. But they also said that some of their friends and relatives sharply disagreed with them about Mr. Trump.
When asked to describe Trump in a single word, some words used were: “Leadership”; “Courageous”; “Respected.”
See the full interactive focus group transcript here.
Recent polls have shown a movement toward Trump among black voters, and black men in particular. Republicans typically win only a fraction of the black vote, but even a small improvement could be enough to hurt Democrats.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
