Former President Barack Obama told Vice President Kamala Harris’s supporters at a campaign office in Pittsburgh that a lack of enthusiasm from black men for Harris is “not acceptable.”
“You’re 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?” the former president said. “That’s not acceptable.”
Obama also suggested that black men are “coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses” and said he “has a problem with that.”
“Because part of it makes me think, and I’m speaking to the men directly, part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and reasons for that.”
A recent poll from Activote showed Trump taking 27% of the black vote while Harris had 73%. If that result holds in the general election, it would be a larger vote share among black Americans for Trump than in either 2016 or 2020. The poll also shows Trump with a one-point national lead.