NEWSWEEK
The proportion of Black voters in seven key battleground states who would vote for Joe Biden against Donald Trump has surged by 15 points, according to a new survey for BlackPAC.
Between February and June, backing for Biden went from 50 percent to 65 percent “if the election for President were held today” and the pro-Trump share declined from eight percent to seven percent. The proportion backing third party candidates Jill Stein, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West fell from 17 percent to 11 percent, and those who were “undecided” also fell, from 25 percent to 18 percent.
President Biden is facing calls to step down from the race from within his own party following the first presidential debate on June 27, during which the Democratic incumbent at several points appeared to lose his train of thought. On Thursday speaking to journalists at the NATO summit in Washington D.C. Biden mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin,” and described Vice-President Kamala Harris as “Vice-President Trump.”
Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies polled 800 likely Black voters in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by telephone between June 23 and June 29 with a 3.46 percent margin of error. Brilliant Corners says it has previously served as chief pollster for the Democratic National Committee, whilst BlackPAC seeks to “galvanize Black voters to the polls.”
The survey also found Biden’s net approval rating as president with Black voters in the seven key swing states increased from 44 points in February to 54 points in June, when 74 percent of this category approved of his performance and just 20 percent disapproved.
Of those who watched the June 27 presidential debate 70 percent said it made them more likely to vote for Biden against just 20 percent who said they became less likely, with another 10 percent either saying they didn’t know or declining to answer the question.
Conversely among Black voters in the swing states who didn’t watch the debate, and only 43 percent became more likely to back Biden whilst 55 percent became less likely, with another two percent unsure.
Newsweek contacted representatives of the 2024 Joe Biden and Donald Trump presidential campaigns for comment via email on Friday outside of usual business hours.
However a Siena College poll conducted between June 28 and July 2 for The New York Times found 47 percent of Black voters think Biden shouldn’t be the 2024 Democratic Party nominee, against 43 percent who think he should stay in the race.
Amongst U.S. voters as a whole a CBS News/YouGov poll which took place over the same period found 69 percent don’t think Biden should run, including 41 percent of Democrats. Amongst Black voters the survey found 58 percent think Biden should remain the Democratic candidate, against 42 percent who want him replaced.