President Joe Biden is gonna need a strong showing of support from his 2020
coalition of voters if he wants to win the election again in November.
And right now he is struggling with one key part of that coalition
young black voters. Yes.
So Renee Marsh sat down with some students at Historically Black Colleges
and Universities here in Atlanta to dig deeper into why they're hesitating.
November will be the first time Lonnie White and Rokia
Garbo will be old enough to vote in the presidential election
and just the second time Malik
Cool and Mosen
Shara will cast a presidential ballot.
None are planning to vote for Joe Biden or Donald Trump.
If I were to vote tomorrow, I wouldn't
vote
period. Ideally, I would like to vote third party
for an independent candidate.
I'm considering either voting for Claudia de La Cruz or Cornell West at this point.
If there is no substantive policy change
when it comes to the genocide in Gaza,
then
there's
not really a discussion for me
when we met at this barbecue restaurant in Atlanta,
all four told me they were raised and originally registered as Democrats.
But
year the president's handling of the Israel Gaza war has turned them away.
I think what Biden has done in aiding and abetting
and genocide is just something I cannot stand for.
You're willing to withhold your vote in the
presidential election unless there is a cease fire
and it's implemented.
Not voting could mean Donald Trump gets into office.
Do you think he'll be better on Gaza?
Trump would probably say flatten Gaza and make it into a golf course.
I have absolutely no faith in him. Would you not say that? Also the people who
are not voting for one of the two people who are the likely people to really be
in this race have a role to play in kind of giving the race to Donald Trump
in a state like Georgia where it's gonna be like razor thin. Yeah.
No, I'll, I'll do you one better.
Actually, I think that just means that's why the Democrats should listen.
Exactly
radical and more tapped in than their peers is how the group describes themselves.
Roy
even helping to organize this demonstration in Atlanta last
October calling for peace and aid for the Palestinian people
while they don't speak for the majority of black voters,
their dissent poses a real concern for Democrats in battleground states
like Georgia where Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes.
Black voters under age 30 made up only about 6% of voters in Georgia in 2020.
That group voted for Joe Biden by more than 50 points.
We are holding their
election in the palm of our hands and they're not listening.
We're tired of just hearing him say these things, these empty promises.
We have no trust in Joe Biden.
The Republican Party isn't earning their vote either. Both sides are just,
nothing is being done for us. If enough people vote third party, we can win.
That's my thoughts.
President Biden's campaign has touted his success
on key issues affecting young voters,
including student loan forgiveness, lowering unemployment,
and tackling inflation.
Still though,
I don't feel it.
People may be employed but
can they survive off of it? The federal minimum wage has stayed the same since 2009.
I was five in 2009. I'm 20 years old now. Right. I work at Goodwill now for $12 an hour
and, and cost of living keeps increasing especially here.
What could President Biden do
to change your mind as far as how you'll vote in November,
call for a permanent cease fire and actually implement it.
I would like us to stop giving aid to Israel if he doesn't get elected,
that is his fault.
That's not our fault. That's not the black voters here. That's not Xy and Z.
No, it's, it's on him
and it's these votes that both the Biden administration and the
Trump administration are going to be fighting for come November.
Now, when asked about dissent among some black voters
The Biden campaign says their priority is direct
messaging to the group on the president's achievements.