Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Thursday that his plans to improve the economy for black Americans is why he is leading in the polls with black voters, though at least one recent poll disputes Trump’s claim.
“I lead with almost every group, including with the African-American groups,” Trump told reporters at an event in Greenville, South Carolina. “I have tremendous support.”
Quinnipiac University released a national poll Thursday showing that while Trump is leading the Republican Party nationally, he is polling poorly with black Americans in the general election.
The poll found:
When asked “Would you say that Donald Trump cares about the needs and problems of people like you or not?” 92% of black people said no.
52% of black people said Trump does not have strong leadership qualities.
73% of black people said Trump is not strong or trustworthy.
79% of black people said they have an unfavorable view of Trump.
When asked “If the election for President were being held today, and the candidates were Hillary Clinton the Democrat and Donald Trump the Republican, for whom would you vote?” 3% percent said they’d vote for Trump.
When asked “If the election for President were being held today, and the candidates were Hillary Clinton the Democrat, Jeb Bush the Republican, and Donald Trump running as an independent, for whom would you vote?” 5% of black people said they’d vote for Trump.
When asked “If the election for President were being held today, and the candidates were Joe Biden the Democrat and Donald Trump the Republican, for whom would you vote?” 2% said they’d vote for Trump.
At the press conference, Trump said he will focus on improving employment rates for African-Americans.
“I’ve had great friendships in the African-American community as you know. They’re suffering. They’ve never had bad job numbers like they do right now — especially African-American youth. It’s terrible what’s happening,” he said.
Trump said he will be meeting with African-American small business leaders in South Carolina in September.
“I do great in the African-American community and one of the reasons is because they know I’m going to create jobs,” he said.
Trump said race relations are tense in the U.S. and President Barack Obama has made them worse.
“Race relations problems are almost at an all-time worst,” he said. “And President Obama — I really thought he’d be a unifier. But I thought one thing he’d be is a unifier certainly between African-American and white, and I will tell you that’s turned out not to be so. He has not been a unifier. He’s been a divider.”
