Harris campaign rejected plan to mobilize undecided Black swing state voters, report says
Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign rejected a plan designed to mobilize undecided Black swing state voters less than 50 days before the election, Politico reported Wednesday.
The $10 million plan was reportedly drafted by the Congressional Black Caucus. A Sept. 16 memo reviewed by said the caucus pitched to the Harris campaign a "Freedom + Opportunity Bus Tour," which would have sent caucus members to key swing states.
The plan reportedly would have also sent social action groups Let it Resound and Rolling Sea Action Fund to battleground House districts where Black voter populations were at least 8%.
The states included in the proposed bus tour were Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and Nebraska, Politico reported. As of Thursday afternoon, President-elect Donald Trump has won or is on track to win all but Nebraska.
The Harris campaign ultimately rejected the proposed bus tour, according to Politico. The campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The National News Desk (TNND) as to how it came to that decision.
While Trump did not win the majority of Black voters' support, he did nearly double his support from 2020, AP VoteCast found. The president-elect received support from 16% of Black voters on Tuesday, compared to 8% in 2020.
Harris underperformed President Joe Biden among Black voters, according to AP VoteCast. The vice president was backed by 83% of Black voters, while Biden drew the support of 91% in his winning 2020 run.
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Trump also drew significant support from Black men, ultimately being favored by 24% of male Black voters. Janiyah Thomas, the Trump campaign's "Black media engagement director," told TNND Wednesday that some male Black voters don't feel "valued" by the Democratic Party.
"I feel like a lot of Black men didn't feel like they had a place in the Democrat [sic] Party, but they saw a champion in Donald Trump," Thomas said.
On Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., claimed the Democratic Party has "abandoned" both Black and Latino working class voters. The senator, who is a registered Independent but caucuses with Democrats, said "while the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change."
"Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?" Sen. Sanders asked.
Neither the Congressional Black Caucus nor the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation immediately responded to requests for comment.
