11 Black Men on What Democrats and Republicans Get Wrong About Their Lives

[bnew]

Marlon, 47, Georgia, florist

Equality.

Moderator, Patrick Healy

How so?

Marlon, 47, Georgia, florist

Us as minorities, it’s hard in society just basically coming up in general. We’ve been fighting for rights for years. And I don’t feel as though they see that.

Dylan, 31, Arizona, program manager

I would say opportunity. They have this mind-set of up by the bootstraps. And that’s definitely true in some ways. We can make things happen for ourselves. But I have a lot of friends that were born with a house already. They didn’t have to do anything, and they already have a house. That doesn’t happen in our world a lot.

Spoiler: ARTICLE

Theodore, 36, Georgia, construction

Republicans think that since many of us came up Democrats, they think they’ll never get our vote because our parents were Democrats and friends were Democrats. Whereas I’m looking at where the country is. I’m way more conservative than I was just a few years ago.

Moderator, Patrick Healy

In what ways?

Theodore, 36, Georgia, construction

So when I started looking at TikToks, you’ll see people go around asking, “Would you vote for Trump, or would you vote for Biden?” and “Why wouldn’t you vote for Trump?” And when I hear my generation, the first thing they say is, “He’s a racist.” But it’s like, bro, do you really know that, or are you just following the bandwagon? Trump isn’t a racist. He doesn’t care what color you are; it’s just how you carry yourself. The man is a businessman.

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson

Let’s talk more about Donald Trump. When you think of Mr. Trump, what is the first word that comes to mind?

Samuel, 28, Arizona, data analyst

Knowledgeable.

Paul, 57, Georgia, veteran

Unfiltered.

Branden, 46, Nevada, retail merchandiser

Fairness.

Aamir, 30, Pennsylvania, security

Leadership.

Marlon, 47, Georgia, florist

Businessman.

Khaled, 50, Pennsylvania, school principal

Courageous.

Rashad, 40, Pennsylvania, graphic designer

I’ll say “leadership.”

Dylan, 31, Arizona, program manager

Figurehead.

J.D., 50, Arizona, coach

Respected.

Theodore, 36, Georgia, construction

Take him as he is.

Jeremy, 34, Georgia, microbiologist

Unapologetic.

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson

I want to ask you about something that Donald Trump said at a campaign rally in March. “My administration is delivering for African Americans like never before. No president has done more for our Black community,” Trump said. We talked a little bit about whether past presidents have delivered for the Black community. I’m interested in what you think about Donald Trump’s claim. Is there anything that comes to mind for you, specifically, that Donald Trump has done?

J.D., 50, Arizona, coach

He’s been more vocal than other presidents about his intentions with our H.B.C.U.s, with jobs. He’s kind of taken the bull by the horns, for lack of better terms. And other people haven’t really done that. Trump is take it or leave it. I’d rather know who I’m dealing with than have to guess who I’m dealing with.

Marlon, 47, Georgia, florist

With Trump, I would say he’s very bold and courageous. If he says he’s going to do it, he’s going to do it. As far as other presidents, I can say that he’s one who sticks to his word.

Aamir, 30, Pennsylvania, security

I think some of the actions he’s taken during, especially the Covid time period, were some things that nobody in history has ever done. Like the stimulus checks, and I think there were three of them. No president has ever given the American people, especially the Black community, that much just for emergencies.

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson

How did the stimulus affect you personally, if at all?

Aamir, 30, Pennsylvania, security

It helped me pay rent for several months. It kept me in the fold of looking forward — to not lose all the things that I worked for up until that point, just because jobs were closed.

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson

Is there anybody else here who thinks about the handling of Covid or something like the economic stimulus that came after it as a part of why you might like or not like Donald Trump?

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

Im always interested to hear opinions from regular everyday people. But these brothas seems very uninformed

These nikkas said trump had a great response to covid

Yeah, I struggled to make it through the piece. I'm not going to lie--the ignorance on display made it annoying. It seems like they found a bunch of Trump supporters and just pumped them for Trump praise. It's always the same praise, too, about HBCUs or how 'he tells it like it is.' I wasn't surprised that a few of them said his felony convictions made him more relatable or likable. One of them even praised Vivek as someone they would support.
The dude talking about the cult of progressivism

 

[bnew]

Dylan, 31, Arizona, program manager

A lot of presidents try to do too much. And he’s a rich man, and rich men, they know how to surround themselves around people that know things. And I think he was able to do that, able to navigate through that, by talking to some people.

Do you think the economy was better under Donald Trump? 11 people raised their hands.

Spoiler: ARTICLE

Aamir, 30, Pa., security

Branden, 46, Nev., retail merchandiser

Dylan, 31, Ariz., program manager

J.D., 50, Ariz., coach

Jeremy, 34, Ga., microbiologist

Khaled, 50, Pa., school principal

Marlon, 47, Ga., florist

Paul, 57, Ga., veteran

Rashad, 40, Pa., graphic designer

Samuel, 28, Ariz., data analyst

Theodore, 30, Ga., construction

Paul, 57, Georgia, veteran

I think it’s better because he’s not a politician, per se. He’s a businessman. He thinks of getting money, making money. Politicians will tell you about a program or something that they have for our kids’ kids and not for us. So the first time in history, we saw something actually happening for us through Donald Trump. And I think personally he did more for Black colleges than any president has, and people don’t recognize that.

J.D., 50, Arizona, coach

He made America our focus, and not all the other countries. He focused on the home front, and that had a significant impact on us as a country and as a people.

Khaled, 50, Pennsylvania, school principal

Yeah, he did put America first. It was just the fact that he was like, “Well, wait a minute, what about us? And if you’re going to elect me, I’m going to take care of us first.”

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson

Did you always like Donald Trump? Or was there a particular moment when you decided, “Yep, this is my guy”?

Dylan, 31, Arizona, program manager

My friends thought I was crazy at first. But the choices that we were given, I felt that Trump might be the choice that may help us out a little bit more. So from the first time we had the choice of Trump to now.

Paul, 57, Georgia, veteran

I always liked Trump. I’ve been doing music for the last 30 years. And I’m from Flint, Mich. We listened to the music coming from New York. Donald Trump was around rappers who were in New York. He had his ear to the street. He knows the culture, and people don’t see that.

Samuel, 28, Arizona, data analyst

I’ve always liked Trump because he’s an unfiltered man. He’s someone who knows what he wants to do and someone who won’t pretend to like what he doesn’t like. And I love the fact that he’s a very knowledgeable and experienced businessman.

J.D., 50, Arizona, coach

I wouldn’t say it’s as much as I liked him; I respected him. And like Paul mentioned before, a little thing, he was one of the most mentioned names in rap music up until he ran for president. I also felt like we needed someone that wasn’t a politician in office. Now, do I like all the antics and things like that? No. But he was respected. He puts the cards on the table. For example, when he was talking about NATO and other countries, he was like, “You’re going to pay us to protect you.” I guess there’s that part of the common street element that we understand, too, right? I don’t agree with anyone totally anyway, right?

Khaled, 50, Pennsylvania, school principal

Yeah, I couldn’t stand that man. Trump came out and started attacking people’s religion and immigrants. I mean, he was hitting a little bit too close to home for me. I’m married to an immigrant. He was attacking my religion. And so I definitely had no good thoughts about him. But he got in, and he actually did so much good. So the second time around, yeah, my entire family was — well, not my entire, my wife still hated him — but we started to come around and say, “All right, we got to get this guy.”

 

[bnew]

Branden, 46, Nevada, retail merchandiser

I didn’t like him. There were some things I heard — he’s a racist, he’s a loudmouth, he’s a bigot — and I guess I fed into the narrative of the legacy media that they were spewing out, all this stuff about him that he’s racist this and racist that. But then I had a friend of mine who started telling me more stuff about him, and I started doing some research, and I found out, well, if he’s so racist, why is he giving to H.B.C.U.s? Why is he the president that gave the most money to H.B.C.U.s? If he’s so racist, why did he hire the first Black female Marine brigadier general?

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson

Do most of your friends and family agree or disagree with you about Donald Trump?

Spoiler: ARTICLE

Theodore, 36, Georgia, construction

It is definitely one of those gray areas you just kind of leave alone. I mean, my wife, we’re more in line with each other. She’s Puerto Rican. But my Black friends, if I straight told them that I was going to vote for Donald Trump tomorrow, they might stop being my friend. They might think I’m going crazy or something. And it’s honestly just because of what they see in the media and what they hear from other people. It has really nothing to do with their own research. It’s everybody else’s bias, and they just kind of follow the bandwagon when it comes to that, and I think I was part of that society until I broke the chain. I was like, “Wait a minute, man.” And with everything that he’s done, it’s just like, “How can you not vote for this guy?” He’s, I feel like, the first president that hasn’t been a politician, whereas everyone else has been a politician.

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson

A number of you have talked about how you had one idea about Donald Trump and then you did your own research or you heard from someone that had sort of a different perspective. Are there any commentators, media sources, places that you go to find opinions and information that you trust on this?

Marlon, 47, Georgia, florist

I was in television and actually worked with him. Working for him, I don’t see how this guy can really be racist, where 90 percent of the staff here are African Americans. And he never yelled at anybody. He never disrespected anybody.

Branden, 46, Nevada, retail merchandiser

Yeah, there’s a journalist; his name is Joshua Philipp, and he writes for The Epoch Times. Every time I listen to him — he’s definitely conservative, and you can definitely hear that as he reports the news — but he’s always telling you where he got his information from. He’s not pandering to you.

J.D., 50, Arizona, coach

I have to say the mainstream media backfired with the second impeachment, Jan. 6. A very small portion of what he said was replayed and replayed and replayed and replayed. But when you listen to the whole thing in totality, it gave some more perspective. Some of my friends and family members that grew up on the streets — he became relatable to them because of seeing how things were falsely presented against them.

Moderator, Patrick Healy

Last month in Manhattan, Donald Trump was convicted of a crime. Did that have any impact on anyone?

Theodore, 36, Georgia, construction

It probably made me more pro-Trump, to be honest. I feel like there’s probably been presidents throughout history that should have been convicted and prosecuted for crimes and they weren’t.

Marlon, 47, Georgia, florist

Yeah, definitely. He’s more relatable. To see that he’s a human being. You can make mistakes in life and still progress and move on and still accomplish things.

Dylan, 31, Arizona, program manager

I would just say it made me pay even more attention to some of these things that they try to throw out there. They’re already doing this whole Project 2025 thing to try to deter people from moving Trump’s way.

Moderator, Patrick Healy

When you say “they,” who do you mean, Dylan?

Dylan, 31, Arizona, program manager

I would say the mainstream media overall, just trying to create these narratives that people will pay attention to.

Would it be OK if a newly elected Donald Trump told the Justice Department to drop the federal trials and cases against him?

Yes:

Branden, 46, Nev., retail merchandiser

Jeremy, 34, Ga., microbiologist

Rashad, 40, Pa., graphic designer

No:

J.D., 50, Ariz., coach

Khaled, 50, Pa., school principal

Marlon, 47, Ga., florist

Theodore, 30, Ga., construction

Samuel, 28, Arizona, data analyst

No, no, no. I don’t think it’d be right for him to tell the Justice Department to drop the charges against him. The department should be able to carry on its process.

J.D., 50, Arizona, coach

Every politician or political figure knows loopholes in the system. But I don’t think he should be able to do it. No one is above investigations.

Moderator, Patrick Healy

If you saw the recent presidential debate, was there anything about it that really stuck with you about Biden or about Trump?

 

[bnew]

Branden, 46, Nevada, retail merchandiser

The one thing that stuck with me was how everybody was so surprised about Biden’s incompetence, his old age, his stammering and his lack of focus. If you paid attention, he hasn’t been there for the past three years.

Do you think Joe Biden has experienced some cognitive decline over the last three or four years? How about Trump?

Biden has declined cognitively.

Spoiler: ARTICLE

Aamir, 30, Pa., security

Branden, 46, Nev., retail merchandiser

Dylan, 31, Ariz., program manager

J.D., 50, Ariz., coach

Jeremy, 34, Ga., microbiologist

Khaled, 50, Pa., school principal

Marlon, 47, Ga., florist

Paul, 57, Ga., veteran

Rashad, 40, Pa., graphic designer

Samuel, 28, Ariz., data analyst

Theodore, 30, Ga., construction

Trump has declined cognitively.

Aamir, 30, Pa., security

Dylan, 31, Ariz., program manager

Aamir, 30, Pennsylvania, security

Trump didn’t look as sharp as in the debates he had during the previous election. But I know that, on his side, he has a lot going on as well. I know that Biden said he just had a bad night. But that was more than a bad night. That was bad in total.

Dylan, 31, Arizona, program manager

We know what happens to the human body as it ages. I studied the neurobiology of aging. These are men over 70. They’re going to be experiencing cognitive decline. You can’t avoid it.

Moderator, Patrick Healy

Is there anything in America that has gotten better over the last four years that you’d give at least some credit to Joe Biden for?

Khaled, 50, Pennsylvania, school principal

Nothing.

 

[bnew]

Marlon, 47, Georgia, florist

Agreed.

Moderator, Patrick Healy

I also want to ask about impressions also of Vice President Kamala Harris, as well. Do you think better or worse of her since 2020?

Spoiler: ARTICLE

Marlon, 47, Georgia, florist

I would say worse. Honestly, you really don’t see her as the vice president. She’s never here. I don’t see her doing anything.

Khaled, 50, Pennsylvania, school principal

I agree.

Moderator, Kristen Soltis Anderson

I want to ask, when you say you never see her, tell me why you think that is. Do you think it’s that the White House and President Biden are not putting her out there? Or do you think that she is choosing to not be out there as much?

Marlon, 47, Georgia, florist

It’s probably a mix between the two. You see her every now and then, but — as a political leader — I didn’t see her really show up much.

Khaled, 50, Pennsylvania, school principal

I didn’t have a high opinion of her going in. But she hasn’t done anything, and she just really soured in that role.

Moderator, Patrick Healy

If we were to live in a world where you could pick the candidates who were running for president in November, is there anyone you would choose to run on the Democratic side or on the Republican side who isn’t running?

Khaled, 50, Pennsylvania, school principal

I like that guy Vivek. He’s young. He’s energetic. He speaks his mind.

Dylan, 31, Arizona, program manager

I think if there were a real opportunity, I would definitely be voting Cornel West, but that couldn’t happen in this world.

Moderator, Patrick Healy

What do you like about him, Dylan?

Dylan, 31, Arizona, program manager

He isn’t a politician.

If you had to choose one option, what’s your priority — that a president be a decent person or a strong leader?

Strong leader

Aamir, 30, Pa., security

Branden, 46, Nev., retail merchandiser

Dylan, 31, Ariz., program manager

J.D., 50, Ariz., coach

Jeremy, 34, Ga., microbiologist

Khaled, 50, Pa., school principal

Marlon, 47, Ga., florist

Paul, 57, Ga., veteran

Rashad, 40, Pa., graphic designer

Samuel, 28, Ariz., data analyst

Theodore, 30, Ga., construction

Decent person No one raised a hand.

Rashad, 40, Pennsylvania, graphic designer

We want everybody to be decent people. But at the end of the day, we want to get the job done. We don’t have time for emotions and pandering or whether someone’s feelings get hurt. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t want to hurt no one’s feelings and have no one upset or upset no communities and things like that. But I just need a strong leader. That’s all I need.