Trump allies to launch an effort to win over Black voters

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Donald Trump took the stage here Friday night, surrounded by some of the nation’s most well-known Black conservatives, with a message: He can secure a historic share of the Black vote for Republicans.

"In 2020, we increased our share of the Black vote by 50%,” Trump said during his keynote address to the Black Conservative Federation. “The polling is coming out and they say ‘Wait a minute, there must be a mistake here. Black people really like Trump. There must be a mistake.’”

He added that he believes Democrats "have done a very poor job" for Black Americans.

Trump was on stage with officials including Reps. Wesley Hunt of Texas and Byron Donalds of Florida, as well as Ben Carson, who led the Department of Housing and Urban Development during Trump’s first term in office.

The Black Conservative Federation event was held one day before the Republican primary in South Carolina, a state whose population is one-quarter Black.

And it comes against the backdrop of a collection of groups closely aligned with Donald Trump’s campaign preparing to launch an effort to land Republicans a historic chunk of the Black vote in the 2024 elections.

“We have coalition groups across the country that are set to roll out initiatives very, very soon in those communities, that will focus on voter outreach and engagement and things like messaging in Black communities,” said Darrell Scott, a Black Ohio-based pastor who is a Trump adviser and helping lead the effort.

“We have people that are soldiers,” added Scott, who said he has directly spoken with the former president about the plan. “We are building a network across the country, and we will have an impact.”

Scott said the goal is to bring together conservative groups that