Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) dismissed polls suggesting that incumbent President Joe Biden is losing black support to his opponent, former President Donald Trump.
Clyburn scoffed at questions surrounding Biden’s polling during an interview on the Playbook Deep Dive podcast that aired Friday. In particular, host Ryan Lizza pointed to a Wall Street Journal poll from April found 30% of Black voters were planning to probably or definitely vote for Trump over Biden.
“Something is amiss with the polling,” Clyburn said. “Anybody who believes that Donald Trump will get 30% of the Black male vote or 12% of the Black female vote — I got a bridge down there on Johns Island I’ll sell you.”
As an example, Clyburn pointed to Sen. Jon Ossoff’s (D-GA) 2020 campaign, which polling did not project would be successful but was. Clyburn also cited Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) bad showing in the polls before winning his seat. When Lizza asked Clyburn if he had worries about the campaign not reaching black voters, the congressman suggested the real enemy is misinformation.
“I’m going to tell you what concerns me,” Clyburn said. “What concerns me is the disinformation and misinformation that’s being peddled out here. What really concerns me is the fact that, for some strange reason, the media are more concerned with trying to balance stories rather than report the facts. That bothers me to no end.”
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A 30% approval rating from black voters would be a massive swing from the 2020 election, in which Biden won 92% of the black vote. In 2020, black voters made up 13.5% of all eligible voters. According to the Pew Research Center, they are expected to make up 14% in 2024.
Trump has not given up on winning over black districts, as evidenced by his recent visit to the Bronx, New York. With Juneteenth approaching, Trump spoke at a local black church for community roundtable Saturday in Detroit.