President Donald Trump is bemoaning his lack of support among African Americans, complaining Blacks are voting for Democrats when their low unemployment numbers should translate into more support for him.
‘So if African-American unemployment is now at the lowest number in history, median income the highest, and you then add all of the other things I have done, how do Democrats, who have done NOTHING for African-Americans but TALK, win the Black Vote? And it will only get better!,’ he tweeted on Sunday afternoon.
Black unemployment hit a record low of 5.9 percent in May. It has risen a little since – it was 6.3 percent in August – but is still at historic lows.
The president often touts African American unemployment numbers as proof of his administration’s effectiveness
Trump is bemoaning that Democrats get more support from blacks than he does
The president often touts African American unemployment numbers as proof of his administration’s effectiveness while expressing frustration it hasn’t translated into more tangible support.
Trump won 8 percent of the black vote in the 2016 election but Hillary Clinton took 89 percent of their vote.
Still he did better than Mitt Romney, who only got 6 percent of the black vote in 2012, although he was competing against Barack Obama, the first African American president.
African Americans historically support Democratic candidates.
The president’s poll numbers among African Americans have been all over the map with some showing similar numbers to Trump’s 2016 results and others showing he has support in the double digits.
An August Quinnipiac University poll found Trump’s approval rating is 9 percent among black voters with his disapproval rating at 85 percent.
But a Rasmussen Reports poll found Trump’s approval rating among African-Americans was at 36 percent in August, nearly double his support at this time last year.
Some have questioned Rasmussen’s polling methods although Trump consistently cites the polling company, which typically has him at higher approval ratings than among other organizations.
Other polls, however, have shown Trump doing better among African Americans.
An NAACP poll released in August found that the president’s approval rating was at 21 percent with that voting bloc.
And a Pew Research Center poll in June found Trump’s approval rating among blacks at 14 percent.
Trump frequently cites the current low unemployment figures among African-Americans as a reason voters from that demographic should support him.
Trump touts the support of prominent African Americans like Tiger Woods, whom he is seen here with in March 2012 during the World Golf championships
Trump praised Woods during John McCain’s funeral service in September
Trump was not invited to the service and was criticized for tweeting during it
Eric Trump, Donald Trump, Tiger Woods, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. together on March 5, 2014 in Miami Beach
He also touts his support from and praises prominent African Americans such as musician Kanye West and golfer Tiger Woods.
But he has also gotten into public spats with other prominent African Americans.
In May, Trump boasted to in a speech to the National Rifle Association convention that West’s endorsement had doubled his percentage of African-American supporters.
‘Kanye West must have some power because you probably have saw I doubled my African-American poll numbers,’ he said. ‘Thank you, Kanye!’
And, in September on the day of the late Sen. John McCain’s funeral service at the National Cathedral – to which Trump was not invited – the president lavished praise on Tiger Woods for showing ‘great class’ in talking about his presidency and standing up to critics in the ‘left.’
‘Tiger Woods showed great class in the way he answered the question about the Office of the Presidency and me. Now they say the so-called ‘left’ is angry at him. So sad, but the ‘center & right’ loves Tiger, Kanye, George Foreman, Jim Brown & so many other greats, even more…….,’ Trump tweeted on Sunday morning.
‘….The fact is that African/American unemployment is now the lowest in the history of our country. Same with Asian, Hispanic and almost every other group. The Democrats have been all talk and no action. My Administration has already produced like no other, and everyone sees it!,’ he wrote.
Trump Thanks Kayne: ‘Kanye West must have some power because you probably have saw I doubled my African-American poll numbers,’ he said in May. ‘Thank you, Kanye!’
Trump slammed CNN’s Don Lemon and Lebron James for this August interview
Trump criticized the men on Twitter
Trump says Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters is ‘crazy’ and ‘low IQ’
Woods was asked about the president’s immigration policy after his final-round 70 at The Northern Trust the week earlier.
‘At a time, especially 2018, I think a lot of people, especially people of color, immigrants, feel threatened by him, by his policies, he’s thrown himself into sports debates in terms of race with LeBron James, with the anthem,’ began one question to Woods. ‘What do you say to people who might find it interesting that you, I guess, have a friendly relationship with him?’
In response, Woods told reporters: ‘He’s the president of the United States and you have to respect the office.’
‘And no matter who’s in the office, you may like, dislike personality or the politics, but we all must respect the office.’
Trump has also attacked prominent African Americans such as basketball star LeBron James, CNN anchor Don Lemon, Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters, and his former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman.
In August, Lemon interviewed James about a school for at-risk children that he recently helped open in his hometown, Akron, Ohio.
Trump tweeted: ‘Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!’
He often refers to Waters as ‘crazy’ and having a ‘low IQ’ after she encouraged people to confrontTrump administration officials if they spot them in public.
And Trump called Newman ‘that dog’ and a ‘crazed, crying lowlife’ after she wrote a book about her time in the White House that claimed he suffered from mental deterioration and was a racist.
Trump has called former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman a ‘dog’
Trump slammed her after her book on her time in the White House came out
Sarah Sanders and other Trump officials have touted the administration’s success with African Americans although Sanders had to issue a correction in August
Additionally his administration has falsely claimed he’s created more jobs for African Americans than former President Barack Obama.
In August, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a rare correction after she gave incorrect figures during a press briefing that claimed Trump created three times as many jobs for African Americans as Obama did during his presidency.
‘Correction from today’s briefing: Jobs numbers for Pres Trump and Pres Obama were correct, but the time frame for Pres Obama wasn’t. I’m sorry for the mistake, but no apologies for the 700,000 jobs for African Americans created under President Trump,’ she tweeted at the time.