Black Democratic voters are energized to vote President Trump
Donald John TrumpUS launches airstrikes targeting Iran-backed militia in Iraq, Syria Trade, interest rates top finance fights for 2020 Five health care fights to watch in 2020 MORE out of office in 2020, as less than a quarter of African Americans say their financial situation has improved over the past two years, according to a new study.
A released by Third Way and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that of the 46 percent of black voters who identify as strong Democrats, 57 percent are more energized to vote in 2020 than they were in 2016.
However, about a third of black voters said they only have weak ties to the Democratic Party, and of these, only 34 percent said they’re more energized to vote in 2016.
Some liberal groups, such as Priorities USA, have warned that their polling has found voter enthusiasm lagging among African Americans, who largely identify as Democrats.
Still, the Third Way study found that a plurality of all black voters, 40 percent, said they’re primarily motivated to vote because “Donald Trump has been a disaster for our country and we need to do everything we can to vote him out.”
The second most popular response for why black voters intend to vote is because “voting is the best way to make my voice heard in government,” which came in at 21 percent.
Sixty-two percent of black voters said that Democrats understand their lives, while only 13 percent said the same of Trump and the Republicans.
Trump intends to make the economy a centerpiece of his reelection efforts, but the Third Way study found that only 22 percent of black Americans said their finances have improved, while 50 percent said they’ve stayed the same and 27 percent said they’re worse.
Eighty-six percent of black Americans said the cost of living is going up faster than their wages.
And a strong majority of black voters say racial relations have deteriorated under Trump, with 80 percent saying that Trump’s election has made people with racist views more likely to speak out. Fifty-five percent said they face more racism in their daily lives than they used to.
Trump frequently highlights the falling black unemployment rate in arguing that his policies have helped African Americans.
In November, the unemployment rate for black Americans stood at 5.5 percent. It was 8 percent in February 2017.Â
Third Way did not conduct a horse-race survey of the Democratic primary field, but found that black voters tend to be more moderate in their views.
Of the 79 percent of black people who identify as Democrats, 34 percent lean conservative, 34 percent are mixed and 31 percent lean liberal.
Overall, 31 percent of black Americans described themselves as moderate, followed by 24 percent liberal, 17 percent conservative and 11 percent progressive.
About two-thirds of black Americans prefer a candidate they agree with over a candidate who shares their background and life experiences.
The Third Way-GBAO Strategies survey of 1,200 black Americans was conducted from Nov. 14 to Nov. 19 and has a 3.1 percentage point margin of error.
