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Senator Raphael Warnock has responded to former President Barack Obama’s comments about support for Kamala Harris among Black men, after the former president stirred up something of a controversy on the left this week.
The former president directly called out Black male voters at Harris’s campaign rally in Pittsburgh, pointing to some national and state-level polling which shows a dropoff in Black support for Democrats in 2024, compared to past election cycles — including his own.
“My understanding, based on reports I'm getting from campaigns and communities, is that we have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” he said.
He added: “Part of it makes me think — and I'm speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you're coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”
On Sunday, Warnock said that he doubts the polling is accurate in terms of how Black voters, and particularly Black men, will vote in November.
“This idea that large numbers of Black men are going to vote for Donald Trump, it's not going to happen,” said Warnock on CNN’s State of the Union.
Instead, he said that the real danger is a lack of voter enthusiasm, not wavering political support for the Democratic party.
“We're not a monolith, but this idea that large numbers of Black men are going to vote for Donald Trump, it's not going to happen.”@SenatorWarnock responds to concerns from Democrats that some Black men could stay home or vote for Trump in November. pic.twitter.com/qUZ835kjM2
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) October 13, 2024
On Obama’s comments, Warnock remarked directly: “I have a great deal of respect for President Obama, and he wasn't talking to all Black men. He was talking to men who we're talking about sitting on the sidelines.”
Warnock may well be correct in his prediction; a CBS News national poll released on Sunday found that the percentage of Black voters who said they planned to vote Democratic on the presidential ticket this year matched the 2020 total percentage won by Joe Biden.
.@SenatorWarnock responds to Barack Obama’s sharp criticism of Black men on the fence about Harris: “I have a great deal of respect for President Obama, and he wasn't talking to all Black men. He was talking to men who we're talking about sitting on the sidelines.” pic.twitter.com/LlRXMqmXAb
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) October 13, 2024
Biden remains an enigma, too; while some polling had shown Harris behind her ex-running mate’s 2020 totals among Black men, the incumbent president’s age had already contributed to a falling-off of his support from Black voters from which Harris has already at least partially rebounded.
Polling continues to show the race deadlocked at both the national level and in several swing states. The two candidates are separated by margins in the low single digits in more than a half dozen states, according to surveys.
