11 Black Men on What Democrats and Republicans Get Wrong About Their Lives

By Kristin Soltis Anderson and Patrick Healy, The New York Times

While President Biden enjoys strong support from Black voters, Donald Trump has chipped away at that crucial Democratic base: He won 12 percent of Black voters in the 2020 election and did especially well with Black men, winning 19 percent. Some pollsters think Mr. Trump may do even better in November. So for our latest Times Opinion focus group, we wanted to hear from Black men who like Mr. Trump to better understand why — including those who disliked him at first but changed their minds. This focus group was held last week, before the assassination attempt on Mr. Trump.

Some of the participants blamed the Democratic Party for expecting too little of Black Americans or treating them like victims. “I think they have underestimated how much Black men care about their family. We don’t want excuses as much as they think we want excuses,” said Rashad, a 40-year-old graphic designer from Pennsylvania. At the same time, the usual G.O.P. talk about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps was off-putting to some of the men, one of whom noted that many non-Black Americans were born into families that owned homes or enjoyed other privileges.

Mr. Trump’s image as a celebrity businessman held real appeal for the men in our group. While some were turned off by his comments and policies early on, including his Muslim travel ban, they said they came around as they watched him and learned about his record in office. They appreciated what they saw as his economic know-how, low inflation during his term and his law-and-order stances. His support for federal funding for historically Black colleges and universities came up repeatedly as evidence that Mr. Trump wasn’t racist. His recent felony convictions made some of them like him more. But they also said that some of their friends and relatives sharply disagreed with them about Mr. Trump.

We have published focus groups with supporters of Mr. Biden as well. As for these 11 men and Mr. Biden, several participants said they were not really put off by his poor debate performance — but only because they felt that his cognitive condition and age have been common knowledge for some time. For these men, Mr. Trump is not just the more appealing choice but also the sole realistic option, given “how off track the president is mentally,” as one participant said.

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