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Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, believes former President Trump is making significant inroads with Black voters after he traveled to Philadelphia to have policy conversations with Black Americans.
Hunt and Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., spoke to a “packed house” in the liberal city on Tuesday in an effort to bring attention to the policies and priorities of the Republican Party ahead of the election.
Hunt later spoke with Fox News Digital about why he thinks more Black voters leaving the Democratic Party could cause Biden to lose re-election and said Trump is leading this change.
“Congress, Cognac, & Cigars” featured a discussion between Hunt and Donalds with former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya as moderator. Similar events will follow in Atlanta, Ga., Detroit, Mich. Milwaukee, Wis., Charlotte, N.C. and other cities in states key to winning the 2024 presidential election.
“Trump’s policies four years ago are not just Black issues, but they are American issues. And if President Trump is able to attain between 25 and 30% of the Black male vote, then Joe Biden cannot win,” said Hunt.
Hunt said Trump, “set a record for Black turnout in 2020” and can build on that number in November.
Hunt said they are doing the work and trying to inspire voters by going into areas “where no conservative in the past three decades has bravely gone before.”
“You haven’t had voices like me and Byron Donalds that are willing to take the initiative to do what we’ve been doing over the course of the past year,” said Hunt.
Republican Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida (left) and Wesley Hunt of Texas (right) headline a Black voter outreach event titled ‘Congress, Cognac, and Cigars,’ on June 4, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Hunt described a moment that stuck out during the event when a Black woman who left the Democratic Party, along with other members of her family, spoke out. She shared how the COVID pandemic made her realize Democrats are not for her community but rather for “White liberal elites,” based on the “draconian” way they were treated during the pandemic.
The same woman also discussed how Democrats “broke up the Black family” because of welfare policies.
Former President Trump speaks during a campaign rally in the South Bronx in New York City on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
“So that conversation really stuck out to me, and let me know that not only is it Black men that we are targeting, but also there are a handful of Black women that are also on the table that we can also get because they’re seeing the contrast as well, said Hunt, adding that many of the attendees said they were planning to vote Republican for the first time.
Hunt said by having these conversations, they are challenging why generations of Black voters have been voting for the Democrats. He argued that Republicans now have an opportunity to win over Black voters by “breaking the bonds and attachment” to the Democrat party by focusing on policies, and to “stop the race bait.”
“I am not a slave and nobody currently living is a slave owner. So at this point, I don’t want to hear that conversation. I want to hear a conversation about what party is going to benefit us the most financially, how we are going to live the best and in the greatest country in the world.” said Hunt, explaining that Black voters are concerned about the economy, “the hidden tax of inflation,” and safe neighborhoods.
“The Democrat Party hasn’t done anything for Black people in the last 30 years. It’s time to give us a chance.”
TRUMP CAMPAIGN SETS UP SHOP IN BLUE PHILADELPHIA IN FIGHT FOR KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE
WASHINGTON – MAY 18: Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, walks down the House steps of the Capitol on Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Hunt did not hold back when discussing how the president has spoken about Black Americans in the past, recalling when Biden told Charlamagne Tha God in 2020, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.”
Hunt also recalled when then-candidate Kamala Harris criticized Biden in 2020 for his past views against busing and working with segregationist senators.
“Now, you look at the contrast to President Trump. We have more money in our pocket. We had more money going to HBCUs. We had opportunity zones. And most importantly, these issues are again, American issues. When the Black community does better, America does better.”
“Black people are saying, well, if these are the two choices that I have, I want to choose the person that I prospered under more than Joe Biden, said Hunt. “And that’s why they’re hemorrhaging votes in the Black community.”
Hunt said this recent shift of more Black voters supporting the Republican Party is because of Trump.
“This is a Trump thing. Trump made great strides in the Black community in 2020. This was not the GOP, this was President Trump.”
VideoRecent polls have showed minority voters appearing to sour on President Biden. The surveys, released in May by the New York Times, Siena College and the Philadelphia Inquirer, show Trump with the lead in five of the six key battleground sates where he was narrowly defeated by Biden four years ago.
Especially concerning for Democrats is the polls found Biden leading Trump among Black voters 63% to 23%, which would be a sharp drop from the 87% of Black voters who supported Biden in 2020 and helped him flip Georgia and other swing states.
If the results stand on Election Day, Trump winning more than 20% of the Black vote would be the highest level of backing by Black voters of a GOP presidential candidate in generations.
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
VideoElizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant with Fox News.
