Trump doubles down on Black vote during event at Buckhead barbershop

Posted by Admin June 27, 2024 Bussiness

Atlanta, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A group of prominent Black men supporting Donald Trump’s presidential bid gathered at Rocky’s Barbershop in Buckhead on Wednesday afternoon.

The Trump campaign deemed this event the Black American Business Leaders Barbershop Roundtable.

The former president even called in to answer questions over the phone.

“I just came up with the concept of ‘No Tax on Tips’ – let the people earn what they earn,” Trump said. “And I’ll tell you, it has been so popular.”

Those who spoke on the panel included the following:

Ben Carson (former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development)
Byron Donalds (U.S. congressman, R-Fla.)
Wesley Hunt (U.S. congressman, R-Texas)
Shelley Wynter (Atlanta talk show radio host)
Latron Price (Co-owner, refrigerated warehouse at Community Westside Market)
Eric Girault (commercial and residential real estate property owner)
Marc “KD” Boyd (Co-founder of Helping Empower Youth)
Daniel Ray (Co-owner of Ray’s Southern Foods)
Mike Glover (Owner of Nancy’s and Grits and Eggs)

During the 2020 presential election, 88% of Black voters cast their ballots for Joe Biden in Georgia. That contest in the Peach State was ultimately decided by less than 12,000 votes.

This year, Trump’s supporters hope to turn the tide.

“We’re trying to peel off between 25% and 30% of the Black vote,” Rep. Hunt said. “Then mathematically Democrats can’t win.”

During the March primary in Georgia, 95% of Black voters picked up a Democratic ballot. This aligned with data from Georgia primaries in 2020 and 2016.

Yet, state Sen. Jason Esteves of Atlanta, who represents parts of Cobb County, says it’s critical that Democrats not lose the Black vote.

“We cannot afford as a state or as a country to go back to four more years of Donald Trump,” he said. “This is why folks like me and people across the state are working hard to make sure that Joe Biden gets elected for another four years.”

Esteves added that the stakes for this year’s election are higher than ever before.

“This election is the most consequential election of my lifetime, certainly of my parents’ lifetime,” he said. “Voters have a clear choice in Joe Biden.”

Back at Rocky’s Barbershop in Buckhead, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson shared a similar sentiment.

“Our country is at the apex of going one way or the other,” Carson said. “This election is very important.”

The first 2024 presidential debate between Biden and Trump will begin at 9 p.m. Thursday.

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