Why I’m Not Surprised Black People Voted For Trump

On May 22nd, 2020, during an episode of the Breakfast Club podcast, soon-to-be-president Joe Biden delivered a seventeen-minute and fifty-nine-second masterclass on the African American political experience. 

The host, Charlamagne, was finishing up a brief interview with Biden, but it was clear he wasn't satisfied. 

Listen, you gotta come see us when you come to New York VP Biden, it's a long way until November we got more questions...

And without waiting to hear what those questions might be, Biden shot back with his now-infamous treatise on ethnic voting requirements.

You've got more questions? Well, I'll tell you, if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black.

A lot has been said about this line over the months and years that followed it, but I don’t think anybody has addressed how pleased Biden seemed with this answer. Judging by the grin on his face, he thought he nailed it. And he wasn't done. 

Take a look at my record, man! I extended the Voting Rights [Act] 25 years, I have a record that is second to none, the NAACP has endorsed me every time I've run [...] I get overwhelming support from the black leadership, young and old, every poll shows me way ahead [...] there are multiple black women being considered [for Vice President].

Biden reeled off half a dozen accolades that sound great if you think of black people as a monolithic voting bloc and meaningless if you remember that black people are people (people who might care that the NAACP has never endorsed you, for example). But as far as Biden was concerned, this was all the convincing any genuine black person could need. 

I mean, sure, it might have been interesting to know what black voters wanted or what Charlamagne's questions were, but once you've decided what forty-six million voters want, why bother to ask?

Thankfully for Biden, he didn't need to hear Charlamagne out. 

Biden won 87% of the “black vote” in 2020, with 79% of black men and 90% (!!!) of black women choosing him at the polls, Charlamagne endorsed him despite his comments (although he later admitted he regretted doing so), and Biden, in return, promised he'd “stand for” the black community.

But what did that mean?

During his campaign Biden promised to choose a black woman as his vice president, and he did, in his second year as president, he nominated the first black woman to the Supreme Court, and he politicised both of these decisions so much that it was hard to believe they were intended to benefit anyone him. 

But the real question is, why would anybody expect African Americans to feel as if they benefitted from these decisions?

How grateful do we expect white voters to be when a president chooses a white vice president or a white Supreme Court justice? How do these appointments benefit white people in their daily lives? How much time do politicians spend claiming that if you don't vote Republican, you ain't white?

Because let's be clear, Republican candidates do expect to get the “white vote.” Just as black people have been voting for the Democrats since they switched from being the party of the schoolhouse door to the party of civil rights, white people have been voting Republican since they switched from being the party of Lincoln to embracing the Southern Strategy.

But just as that trend in white voting patterns is shifting, with growing white support for Democrats, the trend is moving the other way too, with more people of colour choosing the Republicans. And this speaks to a reality that Democrats don't like to acknowledge: racial polarisation is declining. 

Democrats can no longer win black votes by talking about Jim Crow (although they tried) or even noting how racist the other guy is (black people have rarely had the luxury of presidential candidates who isn’t at least a little racist, some can’t even clear that bar for themselves).

Instead, they have to start addressing the concerns that Biden, and much of the political class, couldn't be bothered to hear. 

Because while the Democratic party still tends to treat black voters as if their chief concerns are racism and who showed up at their local church, black Americans, like all Americans, are more concerned with the obvious stuff like crime and the economy and the quality of their children's education.

And guess who spent more time, albeit clumsily and crassly and condescendingly, talking about those issues?

Guess who opposed teaching black children as young as eleven years old, that “there are these systems put in place that prevent black people from accomplishing anything” or that asking them to behave in class is “white supremacy.”

Guess who agreed with most black Americans that they need more, not less police presence on their streets, and that wanting to call the police when someone breaks into your house does not “come from a place of privilege”?

Guess who didn't scold black Americans, suggesting they were “sexist” or “coonish” because they didn't think the way he wanted them to. 

For a long time now, Democrat messaging on race has been clumsy and crass and condescending too. And Trump had one more edge that isn’t talked about enough. As Dave Chappelle put it, Donald Trump is an honest liar. And it resonated with an exhausted, disillusioned, disengaged electorate:

That first debate, I'd never seen anything like it. I'd never seen a white, male billionaire screaming at the top of his lungs, “This whole system is rigged!” he said. And across the stage was a white woman, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, looking at him like, "“..no it's not.”

I said, “Now wait a minute bro, it's what he said!” And the moderator said, “Well, Mr Trump, if, in fact, the system is rigged as you suggest, what would be your evidence?” 

Remember what he said? He said, “I know the system is rigged because I use it.” [...] Nobody ever heard someone say something that true.

Black people in America, more than any other group, know what it's like to feel that the system is rigged. And it's refreshing to see someone acknowledge the truth, even if that person isn't going to do anything about it.

Don’t get me wrong, black people in America also know what it's like to have politicians lie to their faces. Let's not forget that 84% of black voters recognised Trump as the greater of two evils. 

But 13% of black voters proved that “not as bad as the other guy” is no longer a good enough campaign strategy.

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On May 22nd, 2024, two months before Joe Biden pulled out of the presidential race, it was Charlamagne's turn to be a guest, this time on The View. And from the moment he arrived, it was clear the hosts only had one question on their minds: Why haven't you endorsed Joe Biden?

And in response, Charlemagne said what voters of all colours were thinking:

Well, the reality is, I think both candidates are trash. But I am going to vote in November and I'm going to vote my best interests and I'm going to vote who I think, y'know, can preserve democracy. 

Everybody understands what Charlamagne is saying here. Everybody knows he opposes Trump. But it should ring alarm bells among the Democrats that he couldn't bring himself to come out and support Biden. Even after Harris replaced Biden, he was clear that he wasn't going to tell black America who to vote for. 

And he's right. Black people don't need someone to tell them who to vote for, they don’t need someone to pander to them or tell them what they care about, they need, and deserve, a politician who will work for their vote as hard as they will for someone who ain't black.

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