The View' Pushes Back on Obama's Message to Black Men
By Courtney McGinley
The hosts of The View discussed Barack Obama's remarks on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday night, debating the political strategy of using the former president as a surrogate to speak directly to Black male voters who may not be enthusiastic about turning out for her.
Obama hit the trail in force for the first time of the campaign, rallying voters in Pittsburgh, a Democratic stronghold in the must-win swing state of Pennsylvania. As part of his campaign swing, Obama told a group of Black men: "Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you're coming up with other alternatives and reasons for that."
Polls show a neck-and-neck race between Harris and former President Donald Trump, with a new Quinnipiac poll out on Wednesday showing Harris up three points with likely voters in Pennsylvania. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percent.
Election 2024 Harris
Former President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally supporting Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, at the University of Pittsburgh's Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh. Matt Freed/AP Photo
"I think he's out there because she needs to secure men," Alyssa Farah Griffin said, referring to Obama's rally. "She's behind Biden's numbers with men across the board, but specifically Black men. I think that's who Obama was talking to."
Sunny Hostin agreed that "misogyny is a real thing in this country," before arguing that Harris' issue lies with white and Latino male voters, not with Black men.
"I don't think Black men are the problem. Black men are used to matriarchy. Black men are used to Black women being the heads of the family, with Black grandmothers raising them," Hostin said. "Hispanic men, they're more likely than Hispanic women to say Trump is the candidate who represents their views on key issues."
Hostin also said the vice president needs to connect with more White women.
"You've got 53% of white women that voted for him in 2020 we've got to reach those women," Hostin said. "We've got to reach those ridiculous, crazy black men that did vote for Trump. We've got to reach those people. We've got to reach the Cuban men in Miami that overwhelmingly voted for Trump."
Election 2024 Harris
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a Town Hall event hosted by Univision, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo
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On Thursday, Harris taped a town hall hosted by Univision, where she answered questions from an audience of undecided voters in Las Vegas, discussing topics such as immigration and health care.
The Univision event was a chance for Harris to appeal to Latino voters, especially those in swing states such as Nevada and Arizona. The demographic proved vital for the Democrats in 2020, but recent polls have suggested Harris is losing the Hispanic and Latino vote to Trump.
Ana Navarro expressed her desire to see Harris hold more town halls, as they offer a different format from her usual venues and allow her to answer questions directly in an unscripted way.
"We shouldn't only be sending Obama to speak to Black men, Latinos to speak to Latinos, Bill Clinton to speak to Southerners," Navarro said.
"Kamala Harris needs to speak to these people."
Former president Clinton is expected to hit the campaign trail for Harris as soon as next week, when he will be dispatched to some of the southern battlegrounds in a targeted appeal to rural voters, CNN reported Thursday.
Farah Griffin said with only 25 days until Election Day, Harris' strategy for the final stretch should focus on energizing the Democratic base, reaching out to men and convincing voters of all demographics that she represents a change from the leadership of the past eight years, not just the last four.
Kamala Harris, Donald Trump
In this combination image, Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during a debate, Oct. 7, 2020, in Salt Lake City, left, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a... More AP Photo/File
"Ultimately, I think one of the things this election will come down to is which candidate is seen as the agent of change," Farah Griffin said.
Hostin also said she was confused why her question to Harris earlier this week, when the candidate appeared on the show, received so much attention.
Hostin had asked whether Harris would change anything from the Biden administration, to which Harris replied "not a thing comes to mind." Some pundits suggested that Harris flubbed that answer, given that voters say they want to see more daylight between her and the president.
Hostin said: "The Biden administration has had one of the best records of any presidency in decades, so why change something that ain't broken?
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