Former NFL Player and Obama Fundraiser Now Supports Trump; Says 'There Is An Awakening' Among Black Voters
President Donald Trump points to supporters after speaking at his Black Voices for Trump rally Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Former NFL player Jack Brewer, who is black, will be among the many African-Americans to cast their vote for President Trump in November. He predicts that the President will receive over 20% of the black vote which may well hand him a victory.
Although 20% may sound almost too good to be true, two polls conducted last month by Emerson and Rasmussen showed Trump’s support among blacks at 34%. In 2016, he earned just 8% of the black vote. According to the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, “Republican presidential candidates since 1976 have averaged 10% support from black voters, ranging from a low of 4% for John McCain in 2008 when he ran against Mr. Obama to 17% for Gerald Ford in 1976.”
Brewer, a lifelong Democrat, told the Washington Times, “There is an awakening going on right now in the country. I’m going to take the guy who’s actually putting in the policies that are going to make life better for my young black son and my young black daughter, versus somebody who gives me lip service — like, unfortunately, the Democrats have done for our community for years.”
“Donald Trump will get over 20% of the black vote. That is what’s going to win the election. Why? Because there hasn’t been a Republican to even try to go in and talk to the black community. They don’t go there. They don’t even try. I think he’s trying, finally,” Brewer added.
The Trump campaign has made a concerted effort to increase support among black voters and it appears to have had an effect. Last month, Team Trump launched its “Black Voices for Trump” initiative which they say is “dedicated to recruiting and activating Black Americans in support of President Trump.” He was greeted in Atlanta by a large crowd of African-Americans, many of them wearing “Black Lives MAGA” hats.” He told them, “The Democrats have let you down. They’ve dismissed you. They’ve hurt you. They’ve sabotaged you for far too long.”
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), for obvious reasons, will tell you President Trump is racist. The group’s chairwoman, Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), recently said, “Mr. Trump falls back on racial rhetoric when he wants to create a distraction from his “corrupted behavior.” Every time his back is up against the wall, he throws out the red meat of racial rhetoric and attacks communities of color, but the American people aren’t taking the bait.”
According to the Washington Times’ Dave Boyer:
But Democratic leaders say Mr. Trump is a racially divisive president who attacks outspoken black people as a “dog whistle” to appeal to white voters, and that black voters will not join his campaign in significant numbers. They point to episodes such as Mr. Trump’s high-profile feuds with several black athletes, his attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and three other freshman lawmakers of color known as “The Squad,” even his comparing his impeachment in a tweet to a lynching.
A recent CBC statement said that “black people have lost a lot since President Trump was sworn into office.” It read:
The list of regressive and racist policies proposed by Donald Trump’s administration is long and sad. To add insult to injury, we have to hear him and his supporters tout the lowest black unemployment rate in history even though he inherited President Barack Obama’s economy and has never championed a single policy or program for black people. They also fail to acknowledge that the black unemployment rate remains almost twice that of our white counterparts in the midst of a growing racial wealth divide. The strongest stock market in history means nothing to you if you’re working two or three jobs at today’s minimum wage and still can’t make ends meet.
This is just a list of Democratic talking points that they trot out to make sure blacks continue to vote for their party. But that rhetoric is now being challenged, because Trump’s policies have delivered actual, measurable results. The strength of the Trump economy, not the Obama economy, has driven black unemployment down to 5.5%, its lowest level in history. Trump has also passed criminal justice reform and “increased funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.”
The Brookings Institution, a left leaning think-tank, issued a report which said, “The five U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest black populations — New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Washington, D.C. — have seen black median household incomes increase from 7% in Washington to 21% in Atlanta. Trump campaign officials say more than 1.4 million new jobs have been created for black workers since Mr. Trump’s inauguration.”
The Times notes that part of Trump’s appeal to black voters comes from his reputation as a “badass.”
Brewer told the Times that he doesn’t care for Trump’s insulting tweets and he especially disliked the President’s handling of the NFL players who knelt during the national anthem two seasons ago. However, he said, “That doesn’t mean that I’m going to deny the policies. I know how far we’ve come. I want the end to be a better livelihood for us. So if I have a guy who may be a hot head and says things sometimes that may make you mad, I’m going to chose policy over personality.”
Additionally, Brewer said that Democrats harsh treatment of Trump during the Russia collusion investigation and the current impeachment are “causing black voters to view Mr. Trump more sympathetically. That’s what it feels like to be black. Black people have been abused and taken advantage of by the police and the FBI since the beginning of time. When you talk about the FBI changing up documents and pushing a narrative, and they don’t have any recourse? That’s very familiar to black people.”
It’s now becoming apparent to most Americans that Democrats have way overplayed their hand. After three long years of persecution (and I do consider the Democrats’ treatment of Trump to be persecution), even Democrats are starting to see it. “An awakening” among black voters is a very significant development.