President Joe Biden on Wednesday began a campaign tour to reach black voters with an event at Girard College in Philadelphia.
Biden began his minority outreach efforts with remarks alongside Vice President Kamala Harris at Girard College, the Philadelphia-based private, independent boarding school for “academically capable students” who are from “families with limited financial resources.”
As part of the plan, the Biden campaign will commit “an eight-figure investment,” according to Axios, which reported the minority outreach effort will “rely on Black student organizations, community groups, churches and surrogates to improve his standing” in swing states before November.
The speech by Biden and Harris followed a successful rally by former President Donald Trump in New York City, where the Republican is similarly trying to reach minority voters.
Following Biden’s remarks, a post by the Republican Party to the social media platform X asserted, “While Biden can’t even fill up a school gymnasium with supporters in Democrat-run Philadelphia, thousands showed up to see President Trump int he Bronx, one of the bluest counties in the country.”
While Biden can't even fill up a school gymnasium with supporters in Democrat-run Philadelphia, thousands showed up to see President Trump in the Bronx, one of the bluest counties in the country. pic.twitter.com/qPkN2gT5pf
— GOP (@GOP) May 29, 2024
While the city was last carried by a Republican presidential candidate when President Ronald Reagan won in both 1980 and 1984, the Bronx, where Trump spoke, elected a Republican candidate for city council in 2023 for the first time in more than 20 years.
“Everybody was better off under a man named Donald J. Trump, have you heard of him?” Trump said at his Bronx rally, “We had a record low poverty rate for black Americans and Hispanic Americans.”
A New York Times report published earlier this month warned that Biden faces “wariness” from black voters in Philadelphia. The outlet reported that a survey of 20 black Philadelphians found just eight who confirmed they were voting for Biden and others declaring they intended to either stay home or vote for Trump.
The Times noted Democrats have previously relied on traditionally Democratic voters in Philadelphia to counteract votes from more conservative regions of the state, meaning a lackluster turnout for Biden from black voters could result in Pennsylvania breaking for Trump.
Prior to that report, a New York Times/Sienna poll found Biden supported by just 69 percent of black voters, with 18 percent breaking for Trump. In 2020, Biden received the support of 87 percent of black voters nationwide, while Trump received just 12 percent.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Joe Biden” by President Joe Biden.
