He is screwed!
Recent polls have shown Biden is losing support among a pivotal group in securing his election: black voters.
During his first year in office, Biden has made little to no progress on issues that matter to black voters. Despite the fuss about voting rights legislation and the Atlanta speech on January 11, Biden made zero meaningful progress in that regard. The same with police reform. The President has quietly abandoned a campaign pledge to create a national police oversight commission and hasn’t pursued any further congressional efforts addressing reform.
The President has also had a dismal performance when handling COVID-19 and inflation. Although the problems affect the entire population, they are especially concentrated in black communities, considering it has been enduring inequities in health and wealth for some time.
This doesn’t mean Black voters will cast their ballot for the GOP. Historically, African Americans feel Republicans have been hostile toward the group, with former President Nixon capitalizing on white backlash during the civil rights movement. During this period, Democrats were seen as a refuge as they lent support to civil rights.
But Democrat-leaning and turning up to the polls to vote don’t always coincide. To elicit action from the group Biden and his fellow Democrats will need to maintain stratospheric support and enthusiasm among the group as this is the only way they’ll be able to counteract GOP strongholds in groups like whites without a college education and white seniors.
According to recent polls, Democrats are in trouble. In nine months, approval among Black Americans declined markedly from 83% to a mere 64%, according to an NBC poll released Thursday (January 20).
A survey by HIT Strategies in November also revealed the decline, as Biden received a 66% approval rating down from 76% in June.
But Biden has had a rocky relationship with Black voters, many feel disappointed considering they were critical to electing him, with some wondering what their community has received in return.
With Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and activist, commenting that Biden had done the “bare minimum in terms of being attentive to the needs and issues facing the Black community.”
Although Biden may not take this type of criticism in stride, it seems as though many of those in the Black community feel the same considering his polling numbers among Black voters are on a steady decline, despite his pro-voting rights speeches and being adamant about voting on the legislation when he didn’t have bipartisan support.
