Axelrod: Biden Needs To Worry About Black Voters, Especially If Trump Picks Tim Scott As VP
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/02/26/axelrod_biden_needs_to_worry_about_black_vote_especially_if_trump_picks_tim_scott_as_vp.html

Former Obama campaign manager discusses Donald Trump's play for black voters with CNN's Kate Bolduan:

KATE BOLDUAN: Let's look ahead to the potential general election matchup. Donald Trump this weekend, he spoke to a gathering of Black conservatives in South Carolina making an appeal to Black voters. And I'm going to play what was part of his pitch. Listen to this.

DONALD TRUMP: We've all seen the mug shot. And you know who embraced it more than anybody else? The Black population.

KATE BOLDUAN: And that's just a portion of what he said. He was talking about his legal troubles, the mug shot. Regardless of if that was scripted or was a Trump off the cuff and regardless of how it was received. This fits with his attempt to try to appeal to Black men specifically. Should this be a legitimate concern for the Biden campaign looking at it?

DAVID AXELROD: I think it should. Look, he's polling, you know, 20, 21% among, African-American voters here. Biden, got 88% of that vote, back in 2020. And this is going to be a marginal race.

So, this is a concern. And, yes, Black men and particularly younger Black men are the ones that are drifting away.

Some may vote for Trump, some may not vote at all. And, this has to be a concern, for the Biden campaign. Trump knows that.

And I, by the way, I think it may impact on his vice presidential choice. And, you know, there's a lot of talk about Tim Scott as a vice presidential candidate. I think if he picks Tim Scott, it's partly because he recognizes this would be helpful in kind of sealing in, that portion of the African-American vote that he now has.