Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson said black voters turned out in record numbers for President Donald Trump on Tuesday because the Democratic Party offers “minimal returns” to the African American community.
“I think black Americans are getting a little bit tired of delivering huge votes for the Democrats, and seeing minimal return in terms of economic wealth and closing the wealth gap, the job creation and job opportunities,” Johnson told CNBC. “And Joe Biden was not an inspiring candidate for many black Americans. And some of them stay at home. Some of them voted for Trump.”
Early analyses of voting data suggest Trump drew more black voters this year than he did in 2016, increasing his share by between 2 and 4 percentage points.
Black voters still overwhelmingly favored Biden, but Trump’s gains among black men was especially impressive.
Trump appealed to them the night before the election by pointing to Biden’s past record on criminal justice:
For 47 years, Joe Biden viciously attacked Black Americans. He called young black men “super predators.” To every black American: I am asking for your vote. This is your one and only chance to show Sleepy Joe what you think of his decision to attack you, jail you, and betray you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2020
Johnson’s frustration with the Democratic Party is that it isn’t liberal enough.
He has endorsed $14 trillion in reparations for slavery and has demanded that Democrats provide “access to wealth and income.”
“What I believe is that mainstream media and the white, liberal population in general, the only thing that they address the black community on is what I call placebo paternalism. We will say nice things about you. We will talk about your suffering, we will say that there’s racism throughout the land,” Johnson said. “But when you go to the core issues of what black Americans really need, that’s access to capital, access to wealth and income.”
