A prominent black Democrat in Congress conceded on Sunday he is “concerned” about black men not turning out for Vice President Kamala Harris and voting for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), the highest-ranking black lawmaker in Congress before stepping down from leadership earlier this year, made the comment on CNN’s “State of the Union” less than a month before Election Day.
“Yes, I am concerned about the black men staying home or voting for Trump,” Clyburn said.
.@RepJamesClyburn tells @DanaBashCNN, “Yes, I am concerned about Black men staying home or voting for Trump.” pic.twitter.com/Unj6bftip7
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) October 13, 2024
Anchor Dana Bash asked Clyburn about whether he was concerned after reporting that CNN “learned” that Harris’ campaign would be rolling out new policies aimed at black men.
She then showed a clip of Trump, at one of his campaign rallies, discussing the support he is getting from the black community.
“I love black men. I love them! I have gone through the roof with black men … I don’t do quite as well with black women, I must say. I don’t know why, but I’m sure that will work out too,” Trump said.
Bash also said that Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), who recently campaigned with Clyburn in Michigan, explained why black men are warming up to Trump.
Dingel “says that the message she’s hearing from black men is — quote — ‘Democrats take us for granted. Donald Trump talks to us directly,’” Bash said.
The results of an NAACP poll released this summer showed one-in-four black men backing Trump for president, a sign that Democrats may be losing ground among that group.
Clyburn, who is widely credited with saving President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, insisted that he was not letting his own anxiety about the rave keep him from being “energetic” about Harris’ presidential bid.
“Yes, black men, like everybody else, want to know exactly what I can expect from a Harris administration. And I have been very direct with them,” Clyburn said.
Clyburn claimed another Trump administration would embrace “Jim Crow 2.0” via policies from Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation plan that Trump has disavowed.
Earlier this year, the congressman made a similar warning about black voter turnout for Biden prior to the sitting president bowing out of his re-election campaign.
Former President Barack Obama suggested last week that black men will not vote for Harris because of misogyny.
“Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that,” Obama said.
Trump’s campaign fired back at Obama with a statement from the “Black Men for Trump Advisory Board” that included Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Wesley Hunt (R-TX).
“It’s demeaning to suggest that we can’t evaluate a candidate’s track record — especially when Kamala Harris has done more harm than good to Black communities,” they said.
