Trump claims Black voters are rejecting socialism, and ‘flocking’ to Republicans. Here’s what the data says
TheGrio...
Black voters remain strongly Democratic, while affordability-focused Democratic socialist candidates are gaining ground in several cities and congressional races.
U.S. President Donald Trump in a Truth Social post claimed that Black voters are “flocking” to the Republican Party in rejection of the Democratic Party’s “communism and socialism.”
“Black and Brown Voters don’t want Communism or Socialism — Not surprisingly, they are flocking to the Republican Party! They remember that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican!” Trump wrote in a Sunday post.
The president’s statement comes as he and Republicans brace for a potential wave of losses in the midterm elections on Nov. 3. Black voters stand to play a pivotal role in some of the nation’s most competitive races, particularly in major swing states.
“He recognizes that Black and brown voters are going to matter a lot in this election cycle. Some of these races are going to be met in the margins,” Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross tells theGrio.
But are Trump’s claims about Black voters true?
Black voters are not “flocking” to the Republican Party
Despite President Trump’s Truth Social post, Black voters are not “flocking” to the Republican Party. Often known as the “backbone” of the Demcoratic Party, Black voters have voted for the Democratic Party 80-90% of time since the 1960s.
Since 1964, nearly 80-90% of Black voters have cast their ballots for the Democratic presidential nominee, the highest support being for Barack Obama, America’s first Black president, in 2008 at 91%. In 2024, the most recent presidential election, 83% of Black voters voted against Donald Trump, instead backing former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. No other group has backed the Democratic Party so consistently.
Black voters have not changed their sentiments on President Trump and Republicans, based on the latest public polling. According to a July 2026 The Economist/YouGov poll, 78% of Black voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance and 68% of Black voters have an unfavorable opinion of Republicans in Congress.
As most Americans say they are frustrated with the state of the economy and cost of living amid Trump’s war with Iran and inflationary tariffs, Black voters are more likely than any other voting bloc to express dissatisfaction with the country’s direction.
Cross argues Trump’s false claim about Black voters is designed to “keep certain voters at home” and “fudge the numbers a bit” ahead of the primary elections and the midterms in November. What’s ironic about his statement, she said, is that the president has “gone out of his way to to diminish the rights of Black and brown people.”
In April, Trump praised the U.S. Supreme Court after the conservative majority gutted the Voting Righs Act, resulting in several majority-Black districts being eliminated by Republicans across the South. The president also jumpstarted the racial gerrymandering of maps prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Callais v. Louisiana, when he unprecedently urged Texas Republicans to redistrict mid-decade ahead of the elections.
On the economy, the Trump presidency, which has included a retreat from diveristy and equity programs, has also led to the Black unemployment rate skyrocketing to pandemic levels.
The president’s statement that Black voters rememeber President Abraham Lincoln, who famously signed the Emancipation Proclamation and ended U.S. slavery, was a Republican is a “low-hanging fruit” often used by Republicans, says Dr. Christina M. Greer, political science professor at Fordham University.
“Conservatives always use [that] when they’re trying to convince Black voters that their oppressive policies are something that we should be interested in,” Greer told theGrio.
The political scientist described Trump’s post as a “desperate attempt” to use “disinformation” to get Black voters to “vote against their interests.” However, she added, “I don’t think that it’s going to work.”
“Republicans are really scared because their policies are hurting Black families,” said Greer. “We can look at the hundreds of thousands of Black women who have lost their jobs under the Trump administration. We can look at the hundreds of thousands of Black men who are chronically unemployed and underemployed because of specific policies targeting them, and we can look at Black immigrants and the communities and families that are being destroyed because they’re being specifically targeted because they’re from Black countries.”
Black voters are drifting toward Democratic socialism
President Trump’s claim that Black voters “don’t want communism and socialism” isn’t entirely true, either. Communism isn’t embraced by most voters and the president often misrepresents Democratic socialism as communism. However, as theGrio previously reported, there is a shift among Black voters toward Democratic socialist candidates in recent election cycles.
Several Democratic socialists have won elections over the past year thanks to significant support from Black voters, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, D.C. Mayoral Demcoratic nominee Janeese Lewis George and U.S. congressional Democratic nominees like Darializa Avila in New York, Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania, and Donavan McKinney in Michigan.
It’s worth noting the support of Black voters for some Democratic socialist candidates cannot be neatly explained as for or against socialism. Political experts tell theGrio that Black voters are pragmatic and savvy and therefore base their votes on who is best speaking to their unique experiences in the Trump era, from major job losses to less access to social services like Medicaid and SNAP.
Cross said of Democratic socialists, “They’re talking about policies that allow for first-time homeowners and affordability for loans to get there. They’re talking about policies that control rent. They’re talking about the types of opportunities Americans need when their back is against the wall.”
She told theGrio, “Whether you call that communism, socialism, or any other ism, Americans, when their dollars are not where they need them to be, nothing makes sense until you’re able to reach them where they are. These populations who are historically underserved, also have much less wealth capacity than white Americans.”
The Democratic socialist who have found success with Black voters are notably “leaning in on messaging and policy ideas that help [Black Americans] to get a leg up in an America that oftentimes forgets that they exist.”
Dr. Alvin Tillery, Jr., a political scientist and co-founder and CEO of 2040 Strategy Group, told theGrio that more Black voters embracing Democratic socialism is inevitable in the current political climate.
“The messengers are going to matter more, dynamic people, messaging strategy, ad strategy, and it’s also going to be very clear that these old machines can no longer deliver, and so that’s going to open up the space,” said Tillery. “The progressives are going to be rising because they’re actually advancing ideas, and because they’re just more dynamic.”