The Biden-Harris campaign knows Black voters are important. As they seek election to a second term, the campaign hired Jasmine Harris to lead Black media operations, theGrio announced on Jan. 30.
Harris, who was previously the director of African-American media for Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, told theGrio she was grateful to work on the campaign team and that she is “dedicated to ensuring our country keeps the strong and trustworthy leaders it needs in President Biden and Vice President Harris as we continue the fight for progress.”
The news was timely for the campaign after a recent USA Today and Suffolk University poll found that among Black voters who voted for Biden and Harris over Donald Trump and Mike Pence in 2020, 1 in 5 of them said they would support a third-party candidate over Biden.
In an interview on Jan. 28, Black Voters Matter co-founder Cliff Albright told CNN that Biden’s support among young, Black voters was a concerning issue.
“When you look at the poll numbers, Black voters, in general, are disappointed with the president’s policy; disappointed, to be generous, with the president’s policy in Gaza; but, when you look at the younger Black voters, it’s around 70%, 75%, 80% who are not just disappointed, but just outright mad about it – and that can be an issue,” Albright said.
Harris has experience advocating for Black reporters and national Black media outlets to have access on Capitol Hill, and the Biden-Harris campaign is hoping that experience will improve their chances of getting Black voters’ support this year.
