Black voters were key to Biden’s 2020 win. But money woes make some question their support in 2024

By Casey Quinlan, Nebraska Examiner

The economy is top of mind for caregiver and driver Jennifer Garner as the U.S. heads toward the November presidential election.

Garner, 46, lives in Cleveland and can bring in about $800 a week working extra hours at both jobs. But between debt payments on $56,000 in student loans and $1,300 in rent — among other monthly bills — the money doesn’t go far enough.

She voted for Biden in 2020, but says now that she’s researching other candidates — although she has ruled out former President Donald Trump.

Black voters overwhelmingly supported President Joe Biden in 2020 and were key to his win, but as many like Garner struggle to make ends meet now, there is some evidence that Black voter enthusiasm for Biden may be slipping. And Trump is hoping to capitalize on that. He spoke last month at a meeting of the Black Conservative Federation and he argues that Black voters were better off financially when he was in office. Even if Black voters don’t buy that message, voters’ frustration could result in them turning to a third party candidate, Cornell Belcher, a pollster who worked for Barack Obama, told The New York Times

To counter Trump, the Biden campaign is spending millions on radio ads in swing states at Black-owned and Latino-owned radio stations to point out the administration’s accomplishments, including investments in historically Black colleges and universities through grant funding and the American Rescue Plan Act, the cancellation of student loan debt for 3.9 million borrowers, and reducing Black child poverty in 2021, which it has connected to the then expansion of the child tax credit.

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Trump’s appeals to Black voters have been met with suspicion.

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