Atlanta and Detroit – President Biden began his speech at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's “Fight for Freedom Fund” dinner in Detroit on Sunday by declaring himself a “lifetime member” of the NAACP.
Several states further south, in Atlanta, Mr. Biden began his Sunday morning commencement speech at Morehouse College, a historically black men's liberal arts college, with scripture.
“Scripture says that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much,” the president said in Atlanta, as he continued to tell the story of the Rev. Richard C. Coulter, a former Atlanta slave who helped found Morehouse College .
“You all know the story, but the rest of the world doesn't, and it should,” he added.
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The weekend shift in Georgia and Michigan, where Mr. Biden made direct pitches to large crowds of black voters, came as the campaign seeks to reinvigorate its support with black voters amid lagging turnout and with less than six months before the election.
The Biden campaign says it has spent more than $1 million this month on ad buys targeting black-owned media and prioritized black radio interviews. But while the president still has overwhelming support from black voters in the polls, his support from this crucial voting block has softened slightly.
In a March CBS News poll in Georgia, 82 percent of black voters said they would vote for Mr. Biden, compared with 88 percent in an exit poll in 2020. In an April CBS News poll in Michigan, Mr. Biden won support of 77% of black voters, with other third-party options on the ballot.
Biden makes record black voter turnout, mocks Trump in Detroit
During his closing events in Detroit, a campaign stop at a black-owned business and the NAACP dinner speech, Mr. Biden made sure to lay out his record for black voters.
He brought up the $16 billion his administration has invested in historically black colleges and universities, the low black unemployment rate, his efforts to lower the price of prescription drugs and actions to ease student debt.
“I've forgiven a lot of debt from people who have college debt, and billions of dollars, so people can start their lives over,” he said Sunday afternoon at Detroit's CRED Café.
“The guy we're up against wants to support every perspective, every progress we've made,” he added, referring to Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and former president.
Sonya Ellis, a 69-year-old Detroit teacher who saw Mr. Biden speak at the NAACP dinner, said she forgave her student loans because of his policies. But she said she was “very nervous” that Mr Trump might win in November and felt Mr Biden could be stronger on foreign policy.
“I think Trump voters will vote. I know people who are Democrats, who say they won't vote,” he said.
Throughout the weekend, Biden thanked black voters for helping him win in 2020 and said they will be the reason Trump is “going to be a loser again.”
During his NAACP speech, Biden leaned into contrasts between himself and Trump that could appeal to black voters. After touting his appointment of Kentaji Brown Jackson as the first black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, Biden asked the NAACP dinner crowd of more than 4,600 in attendance if Trump won a second term: “Who do you think he will put on the Supreme Court? Do you think he will put someone who has a brain?
Later, noting how Trump has said he would pardon convicted rioters on Jan. 6, Biden asked the crowd to consider a hypothetical.
“What do you think he would have done on January 6 if black Americans had stormed the Capitol?” Biden said, with numerous groans of agreement.
Robert Oscar Williams, a 49-year-old black voter who watched Mr. Biden's remarks in Detroit, believed that while the president made his administration's record clear, he wanted to know more about plans for a second mandate
“More people want to hear tangible things. They want to know, 'What will I get for my vote?' Not just a good speech,” said Oscar Williams.
“The black vote cemented his victory last (time). It would be unwise not to speak to that vote,” he added.
At Morehouse, Biden says his heart is “broken” over Gaza
During his commencement speech at Morehouse College, Mr. Biden often raised the themes of struggle, faith and democracy.
He linked restrictive voter laws and attacks on poll workers to “what happens to you and your family when old ghosts in new clothes take over.” He repeatedly questioned whether American democracy “really works” for black citizens.
“What is democracy, if a trail of broken promises still leaves black communities behind?” Mr. Biden asked.
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Later in his remarks, he returned to this question to discuss Gaza.
“I also know some of you are asking, 'What is democracy if we can't stop the wars that break out and break our hearts?'” Biden observed. He went on to say what's going on Gaza and IsraelIt's heartbreaking,” he called “one of the toughest and most complicated problems in the world” and called for a two-state solution and an immediate ceasefire, which received notable applause.
The Israeli military operation in Gaza, which according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, has killed more than 34,000 people, has stimulated numerous universities. “campouts” and protests, as well as interruptions in the opening acts. Although there was a protest outside the Morehouse campus, there were no major disruptions during Mr. Biden's speech.
Instead, protesters took quieter approaches: some students turned their chairs the other way with their backs to the president, while others draped Palestinian flags or scarves over their graduation robes. And throughout Mr. Biden's speech, teachers on stage raised a Democratic Republic of the Congo flag to express displeasure with the administration's response to that country's civil war.
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Yolanda Hutchins, a 55-year-old Democratic voter from Atlanta, said Mr. Biden “is upsetting a lot of people right now with what's going on with the genocide in Palestine.”
“It's something I hear about every day. I hear about it on social media. I talk about it and discuss it with family and friends,” she said.
Pro-Palestinian protesters were also present outside the NAACP dinner in Detroit. Bill Osborne, a 64-year-old Democratic Detroit resident, said he believes Gaza resonates most with Arab Americans and younger black voters who are “decrying the injustice they believe Israel is inflicting on Gaza.”
“But if you look at the protesters outside, there weren't a lot of black protesters. I wouldn't say it's a problem for black voters; I think it's more because of the alienation they might feel.” he said
