During a recent news segment on CNN, reporter Harry Enten explained just how bad Biden is underperforming with black voters according to recent polling data for the 2024 presidential election.
On Monday, the New York Times/Siena College poll showed Biden losing to former President Trump in 5 out of 6 swing states with Trump garnering 18% of black voters in a rematch between Trump and Biden. Enten explained that these recent poll numbers are a “troubling sign” as Biden continues to see black voters switching to Trump.
“I think this is, the real thing, is sort of the drop-off, right?” Enten said to “CNN News Central” host Sara Sidner. “Look, you look at 2024, Biden still leads among black voters over Donald Trump, 69% in an average of polls. But look at this number for Donald Trump, 22%, where was Donald Trump at this point four years ago? In the polls, he was just at 9% of the votes. So he’s seen more than a doubling in his support among African Americans.”
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“This margin, which was in the 70s just four years ago, look at where it is now, 69 minus 22. That puts it in the 40s. My goodness, gracious,” Enten exclaimed. “If this held through the general election, obviously we’re still months away, this would be by far the best performance for a Republican candidate among black voters in a generation, two generations, probably since 1960 and Richard Nixon against John Kennedy, that’s how long we’re really talking about when we’re looking at this margin here. This could be a truly historic margin. It’s quite a troubling sign for the Biden campaign.”
In the RealClearPolitics average of general election polls, former President Trump leads Biden by 1.1% in a head-to-head matchup. That lead increases to 2.7% when factoring into account Green Party candidate Jill Stein and two independent candidates Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the general election.
Enten further explained to Sidner the poll numbers and where Biden was losing the most ground. “Who are these voters? And let’s break it down by age because I really think this gives you a good insight into what’s exactly cookin’ here. Take a look here. If you look among black voters aged 50 and over, you’ll see that Joe Biden has a very substantial lead here. Look at this at 82% to 8%, this lead is still in the 70s. This looks a lot like what we saw in the overall polling back in 2020.”
“Well, look at voters under the age of 50. Look here, Donald Trump is pulling 25% of that vote: Joe Biden as it just 62% of this, this lead’s, Sarah, this lead is just south of 40 percentage points,” Enten said. “This is historic. This is what a lot of folks have been talking about that Joe Biden has a specific problem among younger black voters, and that is exactly what’s showing up right here and this is, I think, a lot of the reason why you‘re going to see Biden focusing more on black voters.”
The overall takeaway from the polling data shows black voters changing to Trump over economic issues.