Donald Trump spent the weekend campaigning in Michigan as polls suggest the Republican and President Joe Biden are neck-and-neck in the key swing state.
Trump appeared at a Black church in Detroit on Saturday as part of an initiative to win over African American voters ahead of November’s election. Trump also spoke at Turning Point Action’s “The People’s Convention” in Detroit on June 15.
In 2020, Biden overwhelmingly carried Black voters by a margin of 92 percent, according to Pew Research. However, recent polls have suggested the president is losing some support from this key demographic, including in Michigan.
Other surveys have also suggested that Trump’s White House bid has been damaged by his felony conviction. On May 30, Trump became the first president in U.S. history to be convicted of a crime after a jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican candidate, denied any wrongdoing and accused the hush money investigation of being a politically motivated “witch hunt” which aimed to stop him winning the 2024 election.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
On Sunday, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll of Black voters in the battleground states of Michigan and Pennsylvania showed that while Biden is still the preferred candidate in this demographic, Trump’s support among Black voters seems to be rising.
Trump gets the support of 15 percent of Black voters in Michigan, while Biden is the first choice of 54 percent.
The results also suggest that Black voters aren’t enthusiastic about supporting either of the two main candidates in November’s rematch of the 2020 race.
“I’m not voting for Trump, but I’m not excited about voting for Biden,” Olivia Jones, 22, a senior at Central Michigan University, told USA Today. “None of my close friends are excited about either candidate. It’s a universal feeling.”
The USA Today/Suffolk University poll surveyed 500 registered Black voters in Michigan between June 9 and 13. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Trump’s office has been contacted for comment via email.
Elsewhere, a Michigan News Source by Mitchell Research & Communications, Inc. poll released on June 4 found that Trump’s lead in Michigan fell in the wake of his hush money conviction.
In a head-to-head matchup with Biden, Trump has a very narrow 0.6 percent lead over the president (48.2 percent to 47.6). When the survey includes independent and third party 2024 presidential hopefuls, Trump’s lead over Biden marginally increases (46.3 percent to 45.1).
In a previous Michigan News Source and Mitchell Research & Communications poll released in late May, prior to Trump’s conviction, the Republican led the incumbent by two points (49 percent to 47).
“In the May 2024 survey, Trump had solidified his base better than Biden, but post-conviction, Biden is doing slightly better with Democrats (95 percent) than Trump is with Republicans (93 percent),” Steve Mitchell, president of Mitchell Research & Communications, Inc., said in a statement.
“Trump has dropped from nine percent to four percent with Democrats while Biden has gone from four percent with Republicans to five percent. Trump now leads with Independents 47 percent – 40.”
Also on June 4, a Florida Atlantic University Political Communication and Public Opinion Research Lab poll of 2,068 adults in the key swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin showed Biden and Trump are tied at 45 percent among voters in Michigan.
In mid-May, a poll conducted by Prime Group for the anti-Trump Super PAC, Citizens to Save Our Republic (CSOR) showed that the former president is behind Biden in a head-to-head match up in Michigan (52 percent to 48). Biden also leads Trump when all five main presidential candidates are introduced (44 percent to 42).
According to 538’s average poll tracker, Trump is ahead of Biden by 0.6 percent in Michigan with less than five months to go before the 2024 election.
Biden won Michigan by more than 154,000 votes at the 2020 election.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
