Transcript of Black Men and the Ballot: How Their Vote Could Impact 2024 Election

Downtown Atlanta. Site of one of the biggest battle rap competitions of the season. This is old-school rapping in its rawest form, boasting and bragging, and not for the faint of heart.

We're in the house of representatives. Ain't no snitching on the tickets. You would tell that at a minute. Fings don't know me by my government. I get work from the mayor, and I tell him the Senate.

A lyrical beatdown.

Why do you never use your influence to be the bridge to this? The fact you couldn't be the gateway, I took offense to it. With popular headliners and a high-energy crowd.

But here, battle rap is the advertiser. The battle for the White House is the main course. No slogans, no campaign buttons, no candidates. We A political fee serves in a particular way for this particular audience. What is this conference? What's it called and what's its purpose?

It's called No Cap. In young black man language, it means no lies. This is the truth. Our purpose was to talk to the people who are talking to black men that don't participate in the election. I'm very excited about this. I'm very excited about it.

Mondell Robinson is the founder of the Black Male Voter Project. Nice to meet you. What I hear you say is that this conference is for the Untouchables.

The Undesirables. We talk to the brothers that the world don't want to talk to.

We make them sing. Historically, black colleges and universities, HBCUs, churches. Robinson says there's a path that political parties always follow in reaching out to black voters. His organization follows a different path.

Part of the narrative in America about black male voters, I believe, is that they're apathetic.

They don't care. True, false?

False as hell. There's no apathy in black There's a level of antipathy. Antipathy is a whole different emotion. You hate what politics is and does because you've not seen the growth or benefit of it. Black men are not better off because of politics.

Black men are core of the Democratic Party's path to victory for generations. While the black community still overwhelmingly supports Democrats, some of that support could be eroding. Recent ABC news polling shows that more black people have moved away from President Biden Some of the black voters most likely to support Trump are those under 50. In a year where the election could be a toss-up, black men could play a pivotal role.

Lives were lost for this right. It's like, what am I voting for?

Tonight, we're on the ground in three battleground states. Show of hands. If this would be the first presidential election, you've had a chance to vote. Listening to black men about the issues that matter to them.

I still see the drugs, the crime. People literally have to decide whether they want to pay a bill or buy groceries.

And speaking to those who have the ear of the two cams battling for the White House.

The role of black voters in this election is really going to be monumental. Whether you vote or not, you vote. Whether you say yes, you check a ballot or not, you are saying something.

Who here knows misinformation? At the No Cap conference, attendees sat in on seminars about election misinformation in the 15th Amendment.

At least Trump be out and open for what he stands for, what he do.

Hitman Holly and John John DeDine, artists, entertainers, battle rappers, and both fathers in their 30s. Say up until now, politics has been a luxury they could not afford. Have either one of you ever voted in a presidential election?

One time.

One time.

When was that? Obama.

You point to your hand. Voted for the brother. Voted for the black man. Then what happened?

Nothing. Voting is the last thing on my mind. They all want me to vote for what? So Mike Brown can get shot 10 times in his head. That's what I vote for. So George Floyd can get killed on camera, bro? What am I voting for? What am I going to stand in this line for and vote for one of these people for? Why? But you all want to act like my vote really matters. Man, bro.

In 2020, record turnout But among Black voters, helped her in Georgia Blue. But Hitman and John John still weary of voting come November. You're leaning towards Trump.

Yes, I am. I feel like it was more change when Trump was in office than Biden. If we got to compare There was going on. They say you're not Black if you don't vote for me.

If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump and you ain't Black.

Who says that? It was wild to hear that. Then what have you done?

The Biden administration recently be launching a new strategy to convince black voters of what they've done. Touting student debt forgiveness, support to black-owned small businesses, record low unemployment levels, and an increase in black wealth. Because black America has voted, Kamal and I are President and Vice President of the United States because of you. So when I see you brothers in the late fall, are you going to be wearing mega hats?

No. That's what I'm saying. The thing is I vote, but that's what I'm saying. They're my only options. It's just like, Hey, you want to burn your hand in the oven or you'll burn your hand in a toaster.

The former President has tried to court black voters in a myriad of ways. From Trump brand that never surrender high tops. It's a slightly different audience than I'm used to, but I love this audience. Bringing rappers on stage with them.

Make America great again.

Rapper of 50 Cent, weighing in on where a black male voters stand during a visit with lawmakers.

I see them identifying with Trump. Why do you say that? Because they got rico charges.

But Trump's appeal to some of hip hop music's biggest fans, young college-educated black voters, likely is in translating. We talked to some brothers who were in the battle rap. They're entrepreneurial. They have dynamic businesses. They're doing well. They support their families. They were thinking, A, about not voting at all, and B, thinking about voting for Donald Trump.

Slavery took a long time to end.

Wow, you're going there. Yeah, 100%.

That is exactly what that is. I can definitely say from my family's perspective as well, growing up in South Carolina, a lot of them agree with Donald Trump.

We caught up with these four young men at St. Augustine's University, the HBCU in Raleigh, North Carolina. Both Biden and Trump have invested in these institutions. I want to show you a videotape of a speech he gave not too long ago. I got indicted a second time, and a third time, and a fourth time. And a lot of people said that that's why the black people like because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against.

That's not us. That's crazy. The thing is that you can relate to a whole community just by going to jail is outrageous. I feel like discussed it that he felt like he could get to us while making jokes about going to jail and relating to us, by the way. It's not what we stand for as people.

What issues matter most to you guys this election?

I'm so politically tired. I don't even know what issues I care about anymore. Reproductive rights, for me, it's important, but it's like, I'm tired.

Why are you tired?

Constantly having to fight as a black man in every space. It's like every system is built in opposition of our success.

All four tell us they'll be voting for President Biden in November. Show of hands. If this will be the first presidential election, you've had a chance to vote.

I think it's really important. Our ancestors fought for this, so I feel like it's very important for black people in general just to vote.

The state of North Carolina has been a mainstay in the story of black political progress in America. In Greensboro, four HBCUs W students famously spearheaded the Nationwide Sitton Movement in the 1960s. And for generations, the black church instrumental in fighting for fair access to the ballot. Republican Congressional candidate Adul Ali knows full well the power of the church.

This is exactly what I wanted, a nice, intimate crowd of folks to come out for lunch.

Hosting a politics in the pulpit event in the Charlotte area. Amen. It's an important constituency to win over in a state that Trump carry by about a point in 2020. Does Donald Trump reflect your values politically and personally?

Politically, yeah. And some of the values personally. Am a fan of the mean tweets and calling people out of their name? I don't think that has any place in civilized politics. I don't. But I also recognize that if you read the framers of the Constitution, they were just as ruthless and gangsta and mean as Donald Trump is.

How is life for Black America, you think, under Donald Trump?

Let Sexy Red tell it, we was getting money.

Rising rap artist Sexy Red going viral for this video, praising the COVID financial relief issued under the Trump administration.

Baby, we love Trump. We need them back in office. We were doing a lot better.

That's not fully true, is it? Black unemployment is lower than it's ever been.

We've not seen an increase in the quality of life. I don't think black America can take four more years of this. I don't think we can. Some of the things that have plagued us is the lack of good jobs, the ones that can take care of a family.

Saginaw, Michigan, less than 2 hours north of Detroit, once a thriving hub for the auto industry. Curly Coleman is the Chief Executive Officer of Saginaw County Community Action Committee.

How are you doing? My concern, personally, is our black community being able to have the opportunity to go into homes financial, literacy, education, opportunities to advance.

While black unemployment reached historic lows during President Biden's first term, here in Michigan, black unemployment is at least 50% higher than the national average. Trump It's the one here in 2016. Biden in 2020 by just 303 votes in a pivotal state. It's a pivotal swing county, and both Biden and Trump know it, already making stops here.

I believe in what President Biden is trying to accomplish, and I will be standing with him.

But not everyone is convinced. Antonio Brooks, who's voted in every presidential election since he was 18, is now questioning whether he wants to vote at all.

All we do is go in, just vote of us straight tickets. We just vote Democrat. So we're not holding them accountable. We're just giving them our vote, which if I feel like you don't deserve it, I'm not giving it to you anymore. I keep it myself.

Coming up, one of the contenders for Trump's running mate, his controversial remarks about the Jim Crow era. Do you want to clarify that comment at all? And King of Comedy, D. L. Hugely, goes beyond the last and gets serious about pushing for Biden at the ballot.

Obviously, we're not a monolith, but I think ultimately, I'm going to do what I can to make sure this administration sees another term.