By Jessica Washington
As the election rapidly approaches, the race to lock down key demographics intensifies. For incumbent President Joe Biden, securing the support of Black voters is essential to his success in reelection.
A new advertisement shared exclusively with The Root focusing on Black farmers indicates that the campaign is well aware of the fact that it’ll need Black support, particularly in often-ignored rural Black communities.
The “Compete” ad focuses on Patrick Brown, a Black farmer from North Carolina who lays out how the Biden administration has improved his quality of life.
“Our farm has been in our family for over three generations,” says Brown. “But a lot of Black farmers are just barely hanging on. Joe Biden gets it.”
Brown then explains what the White House has done for his family farm: “He is investing in us,” says Brown of Biden. “Getting us access to land, broadband, capital, and infrastructure. So we can compete.”
The video highlights specific policy accomplishments, including the passage of the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Law.
“President Biden’s historic legislation is delivering for Black Americans and rural communities, including farmers like Patrick by investing in critical infrastructure, improving access to affordable internet and health care, creating pathways to generational wealth and business ownership, and making sure Black farmers keep ownership of their land,” said Quentin Fulks, the principal deputy manager for the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign.
The advertisement eschews any mention of former President Donald Trump, but Fulks notes the differences between “MAGA Republicans” and the administration. “We are ensuring every voter understands the choice in front of them: While MAGA Republicans push an extreme agenda that would harm Black and rural communities and take our country backwards,” he said.
The video was produced by Truxton Creatives and will run on African American skewing television programming in North Carolina and Georgia. Biden lost North Carolina in 2020 but won a historic victory in Georgia, in large part due to support from black voters.
However, this year, things aren’t looking as favorable for the Biden-Harris campaign in the state: Polling out of Georgia shows Biden slightly trailing behind Trump. But it’s still far too early to count him out at this point, especially ahead of Trump’s hotly anticipated trial in Georgia.
The administration has also been struggling with Black support. A GenForward poll released on Tuesday found that 20 percent of Black respondents would vote for “someone other” than Biden or Trump. Roughly 17 percent of respondents said they would vote for Trump. The Root has written about some emerging and longer-standing issues that could be causing Black support to soften.