Black voters were a vital part of the coalition in 2020 that swept President Joe Biden into the White House, with 92 percent of Black Americans casting their ballot for him. 

But four years later, polls suggest that Biden has lost support among Black voters.

Politico reports that one of the latest surveys reinforces the narrative that Black voters are considering other options for the 2024 presidential election. A GenForward poll released Tuesday (Dec. 12) found that 63 percent of Black Americans would vote for Biden – a 30 percent decline from 2020.

GenForward, housed at the University of Chicago, surveyed 3,448 eligible voters from Nov. 8-30. Seventeen percent of the Black voters surveyed said they would cast their ballot for Donald Trump, who received just 8 percent of the Black vote in 2020.

A separate survey conducted in October by The New York Times and Siena College found a similar shift. According to that poll, 22 percent of Black voters in crucial swing states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) would back Trump.

At the same time, a 20 percent swath of Black voters told GenForward that they would prefer to vote for someone other than Trump or Biden. 

“If Joe Biden fails, it’s not going to be because Black people voted for Donald Trump,” Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher told Politico.

Belcher, who was not involved in the GenForward survey, explained that voters across the board are apathetic toward both parties. 

Disgruntled Black voters told the Times they were disappointed with the Biden administration’s progress toward achieving their legislative priorities, including student loan debt relief, affordable housing and police reform.

With a low job approval rating, the Biden administration has touted the achievements of Bidenomics – the president’s economic growth strategy – including record-low Black unemployment. That message isn’t getting through, as 80 percent of Black voters surveyed rated the economy as “only fair” or “poor.”

The Biden-Harris reelection campaign is trying to keep Black voters in their camp. The team launched a new ad campaign on Dec. 6 that targets Black voters, especially in battleground states.

The ad highlights Biden’s legislative achievements that the administration says are making a difference in the Black community, including the bipartisan Infrastructure Plan and Inflation Reduction Act.