Biden, Trump have both visited Philadelphia on 2024 campaign trail to court Black voters
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A key voting bloc is getting extra attention from President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. And that attention has been focused on Philadelphia.
Both Biden and Trump have come to Philly within the last month to make specific pitches to court Black voters, a historically reliable vote for Democrats. But polling shows cracks may be forming in that support.
Our latest CBS News Poll from early June shows Black voters still overwhelmingly back Biden, 81% to Trump's 18%. But even at that level, Trump would have more than double the support from the voting bloc than he saw four years ago when the Pew Research Center reports he garnered just 8% of the Black vote.
"That would be a big shift if some of those polls are accurate and stay the way they are coming into November," Andrew McGinley, of the Committee of Seventy, said.
In a tight race, as 2024 is expected to be, experts said even a little movement can prove to have major impacts. Biden only topped Trump by a little more than 80,000 votes in Pennsylvania in 2020.
Will Latif Little, from South Philadelphia, said he supported Biden four years ago, but now his vote is up in the air.
"Even though Trump has some things that I don't like, some things I do like, Biden, I don't know where he's at," Little said.
Trump has spent more time in Philadelphia this campaign cycle than previously. He attended SneakerCon in the city in February, and earlier this month opened a campaign office in the Holmesburg neighborhood. But his rally at Temple University's Liacorus Center in North Philadelphia on Saturday was his first direct outreach to Black voters in the city.
"Our strategy is very simple: we just show up in these communities, listen to people, and meet them where they're at," Janiyah Thomas, of the Trump campaign, said.
James Jones, who owns a business in Philadelphia, said he believes Trump is gaining ground and that he can relate to voters.
"He talks to people just the way they want to be spoken with, at a level that people understand his language," Jones said.
Not all voters we spoke with agreed with that sentiment, however. Some took issue with Trump's rhetoric and past comments.
"I'm 73 years old, I ain't never heard a president say nothing like that," said Larry Moore, who lives in South Philadelphia. He added he is undecided but that he will not vote for Trump.
"This year, anybody but Donald Trump," said Henry Nesbitt, who lives in West Philly. He said he'll vote for Biden.
Biden certainly hasn't taken his eye off Philadelphia either, with at least five visits to the city since the start of the year. His latest, in late May, was an event at Girard College with Vice President Kamala Harris, launching the Black Voters for Biden-Harris campaign.
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who co-chairs Black Pennsylvanians for Biden-Harris, said their focus will be highlighting the achievements of the administration.
"Black Americans have done better under Joe Biden. Black wealth is up 60% since the pandemic, we have the lowest Black unemployment rate ever in our nation's history," Davis said.
CBS News Philadelphia found plenty of Biden supporters in our travels through deep-blue Philadelphia. Some said they like how the president has handled jobs and infrastructure. But several did note they believe the president has to do more as we head toward November.
"I think he needs to come out a little more. And also the vice president, I haven't seen her as much as she should," said Kishma Williams, who lives in Carroll Park.
Experts said all Pennsylvania voters should expect to see much more of Biden and Trump in the runup to November, as both try to secure votes in the Keystone State. As for Little, he said his decision will likely come down to the wire.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna be in the booth and decide," Little said.
