Politics

DEROY MURDOCK: Trump In The ‘Hood’: Former President Should Rally In Black Precincts

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How can Donald J. Trump electrify the campaign trail, turbocharge his re-election prospects, and nauseate the Democrat Left? Stage MAGA rallies in the “hood.”

Atop his usual Republican-leaning venues, the former president should hold his signature mass meetings in the black neighborhoods of such swing-state cites as Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Richmond. Trump would capitalize on one of Election 2024’s most intriguing trends: The former president’s rising popularity among black voters.

The Fulton County, Georgia, mug shot that made Leftists salivate backfired. The GOP base circled its wagons more tightly around Trump. Added advantage: This police-involved photo shoot gave Trump street cred as a victim of The Man.

New York Post’s Jon Levine recently showcased pro-Trump rappers. Chief Keef told his 8.8 million Instagram followers, “He good in da hood.” Badman Kevo, who boasts two Trump tattoos, complained: “Biden…actually got me paying a lot of taxes.” Buffalo’s Benny the Butcher declared via X: “I’m votin Trump 2024.”

Black attitudes towards Trump are warming far beyond the recording studios. Edison Research’s exit polls gave Trump 8% of the black vote in 2016 and 12% in 2020, including 19% of black men. Reuters/Ipsos discovered in July that 18% of blacks favor Trump versus 46% for President Joe Biden. A late August Economist/YouGov study pegged Trump at 20% among black registered voters compared to 62% for Biden.

Fox News on Thursday spotted Trump at 21% and Biden at 69% — down from 87% at the last election, per Edison. These combined figures put Trump 9% ahead of and Biden 18% behind their final 2020 results.

Trump should ask in person for the votes of this increasingly receptive audience. He also should discuss his overall record and how it specifically helped black Americans.He should remind black voters about the broad economic boom that the Trump/GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and deregulation unleashed, before COVID-19 wrecked everything.

• Real median income for blacks grew from $39,490 in 2016, under Obama-Biden, to $45,438 in 2019, during Trump-Pence — up 15%.
• Obama-Biden’s black unemployment tumbled from 8.0% in December 2016 to Trump-Pence’s 5.3% in August 2019.
• Blacks below the poverty line slid from 22% in 2016 under Obama-Biden to Trump-Pence’s 18.8% in 2019.

TCJA included Sen. Tim Scott’s Opportunity Zone initiative. The South Carolina Republican’s measure has lured at least $48 billion in private capital into 8,764 low-income Census tracts whose populations are 57% minority.

Trump arranged a steady stream of taxpayer support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He extended Pell Grants to summer school students. HBCU presidents begged Obama-Biden for this small reform and got nowhere. Trump delivered.

Trump reauthorized and funded the Washington, D.C., school voucher program. Obama-Biden struggled to kill it.

Trump signed the First Step Act, which has granted second chances to 23,158 mainly black non-violent prisoners. After going home, 12% have reoffended, far below the general prison population’s 45% recidivism rate.

Trump should promise a vigorous economic renaissance, robust school-choice options, and a muscular fight against crime — to protect its disproportionately black victims.

Rallying black voters also will endear Trump to other minorities and even “nervous whites.” They will see for themselves how the regime media shamelessly lie about Trump’s “white nationalism.”

Democrat officials will have seizures. They consider blacks their political property and take them for granted — save for their condescending, quadrennial battle cry: “GOP = KKK!”

This might explain why black turnout trailed national participation in 2020 and 2022. If Trump can attract 20% to 25% of disillusioned black voters, Democrats will be cooked like Thanksgiving turkeys.

If Trump stumps in the ’hood, Leftists who call him “Racist!” will beclown themselves. If Trump disables the Democrats’ relentlessly overplayed race card, he will cripple them.

Trump’s inner-city rallies would find black and white Trump fans shouting in harmony: “Make America Great Again!” CNN and MSNBC anchors would hurl on cue. Who cares?

What a perfect rejection of the Critical Race Theorists, who hate seeing black and white patriots happily disproving “systemic racism.” And what an affirmative reply to Rodney King’s eternal question: “Can we all get along?”

Trump should ask black voters a question that will crystallize their sense of betrayal at the hands of their morally bankrupt “benefactors.”

“What the hell have the Democrats done for you lately?”

Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News Contributor.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.