WASHINGTON: Amid concern in Democratic quarters about waning support from young black men for Kamala Harris , former President Barack Obama came out swinging for his protege on Thursday, urging "brothers" to overcome the sexism that appeared to be holding them back from supporting her.
Campaigning for Harris in Pennsylvania, where black vote will be a big factor if she is to win, Obama took a paternal big brother approach as he chided young black men for their hesitation in accepting the idea of having a woman as President, reminding them that “when we get in trouble and the system isn’t working for us, they’re the ones out there marching and protesting.”
Obama's sharp rebuke came amid surveys indicating one in four black men under 50 support Donald Trump over Kamala Harris, compared to the over 90 per cent support Obama had. Even Joe Biden polled better (80 percent +) among blacks than Harris, who commands 90 percent plus among black women, but is seen losing ground among black men, particularly the younger demographic. Blacks constitute about 14 percent of the voting population in the US.
In a blunt message to black men, Obama chided them for thinking about sitting out or supporting "somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that's a sign of strength, because that's what being a man is? Putting women down? That's not acceptable." Harris, he said, understands the struggles and pain and joy of black men, unlike Trump, who is hardly likely to care for them when he remained unmoved when his own vice-president was threatened with hanging.
Obama also challenged the MAGA narrative of Trump as an economic genius, reminding voters that he had handed over a good economy with 75 straight months of job growth after spending eight years cleaning up the mess that the Republicans had left him. "Yeah, it was pretty good, because it was my economy. It wasn't something he did," Obama said. He also pushed back on the immigration issue, saying Trump had four years in the White House to solve the problem but he has no plans to do so other than use it as a wedge issue to divide people.
While Obama was pitching for the black vote for her, Harris was in Nevada to woo Latinos, who are also less chuffed about her although she still leads Trump among the demographic. A Pew Research Center poll shows her ahead of Trump among Latinos by 16 per cent -- 54-38. In 2020, exit polls showed Biden beating Trump by 33 percent, 65-32. Of the seven battleground states, two -- Nevada and Arizona -- have large Latino votes that can swing the election. Some surveys show Trump ahead in Nevada by as much as 5 percent (considered a safe bet outside the margin of error), mainly on account of his wooing the hospitality industry with his ‘no tax on tips” pledge in a state with more than 350,000 hospitality jobs.
In a Las Vegas town hall hosted by the Spanish tv network Univision, Harris carefully threaded the delicate line on immigration -- a key issue for Latinos -- between an “orderly and humane pathway to earned citizenship for hardworking people” and tough border policing. She also addressed health care and pocketbook issues that are weighing on women, even as the Trump campaign, in continued social media warfare between the two sides, ridiculed her purported dependence on teleprompters for answers. It turned out the teleprompter was there only to help translate questions from Spanish.
Campaigning for Harris in Pennsylvania, where black vote will be a big factor if she is to win, Obama took a paternal big brother approach as he chided young black men for their hesitation in accepting the idea of having a woman as President, reminding them that “when we get in trouble and the system isn’t working for us, they’re the ones out there marching and protesting.”
Obama's sharp rebuke came amid surveys indicating one in four black men under 50 support Donald Trump over Kamala Harris, compared to the over 90 per cent support Obama had. Even Joe Biden polled better (80 percent +) among blacks than Harris, who commands 90 percent plus among black women, but is seen losing ground among black men, particularly the younger demographic. Blacks constitute about 14 percent of the voting population in the US.
In a blunt message to black men, Obama chided them for thinking about sitting out or supporting "somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that's a sign of strength, because that's what being a man is? Putting women down? That's not acceptable." Harris, he said, understands the struggles and pain and joy of black men, unlike Trump, who is hardly likely to care for them when he remained unmoved when his own vice-president was threatened with hanging.
Obama also challenged the MAGA narrative of Trump as an economic genius, reminding voters that he had handed over a good economy with 75 straight months of job growth after spending eight years cleaning up the mess that the Republicans had left him. "Yeah, it was pretty good, because it was my economy. It wasn't something he did," Obama said. He also pushed back on the immigration issue, saying Trump had four years in the White House to solve the problem but he has no plans to do so other than use it as a wedge issue to divide people.
While Obama was pitching for the black vote for her, Harris was in Nevada to woo Latinos, who are also less chuffed about her although she still leads Trump among the demographic. A Pew Research Center poll shows her ahead of Trump among Latinos by 16 per cent -- 54-38. In 2020, exit polls showed Biden beating Trump by 33 percent, 65-32. Of the seven battleground states, two -- Nevada and Arizona -- have large Latino votes that can swing the election. Some surveys show Trump ahead in Nevada by as much as 5 percent (considered a safe bet outside the margin of error), mainly on account of his wooing the hospitality industry with his ‘no tax on tips” pledge in a state with more than 350,000 hospitality jobs.
In a Las Vegas town hall hosted by the Spanish tv network Univision, Harris carefully threaded the delicate line on immigration -- a key issue for Latinos -- between an “orderly and humane pathway to earned citizenship for hardworking people” and tough border policing. She also addressed health care and pocketbook issues that are weighing on women, even as the Trump campaign, in continued social media warfare between the two sides, ridiculed her purported dependence on teleprompters for answers. It turned out the teleprompter was there only to help translate questions from Spanish.
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