U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds and Wesley Hunt toast their drinks during an event where they campaigned for former President Donald Trump at a cigar lounge in Philadelphia. The two congressmen met at a cigar lounge near Atlanta on Thursday, June 27, 2024, as they urged Black voters to go with the GOP. (Monica Herndon/TNS)
ATLANTA (Tribune News Service) — On the eve of the Atlanta presidential debates, a couple of prominent Black Republican lawmakers gathered to shore up support from Black voters.
At the helm of the Studio Cigar Lounge event Wednesday sat Republican U.S. Reps. Wesley Hunt from Texas and Byron Donalds from Florida. The event was one of many in Atlanta ahead of the CNN face-off between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
As the congressmen puffed on cigars, they tailored their messaging towards Black voters while touting Republican talking points and criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of immigration and the southern border.
“Black voters in America, if you want to see changes, there’s a time where you’re going to have to walk alone with your family, sometimes with your community, because I’m telling you this, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they do not have the recipe for success in this country,” Wesley said.
Donalds said, “I know obviously we support President Trump, but we’re going to get down into the local level. In a lot of our cities, we keep voting for the same party, same politicians, wondering why things don’t change. Well, you’re doing the same thing and the same thing is occurring.”
Amid efforts from conservatives to court Black voters, Trump still appears to be attracting a small share of the Black vote in Georgia. Only about 9% of Black respondents in the latest AJC poll said they’d vote for Trump.
However, Biden’s approval ratings and support have waned a bit among Black and young voters. Some experts suggest it is more a battle between Biden and the couch - whether they vote at all - rather than between Biden and Trump.
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