Kellyanne Conway, a former aide to Donald Trump, made the claim on Sunday that the former president spoke to an audience of 8,000 people at a Detroit church over the weekend, which sparked jokes and criticism on social media.
In an effort to court Black voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Trump held a roundtable discussion on Saturday at the 180 Church, a Black church on the outskirts of downtown Detroit.
Tight Race
Since Trump and Joe Biden are statistically tied in most polls or have only a slight lead, polls have shown that the outcome will be close.
Conway compared Trump’s campaign efforts to those of Vice President Joe Biden during an appearance on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.
Conway’s Remarks
“Biden’s not doing anything like that, look at the contrast of just this weekend.” She remarked to Bartiromo, “You’ve got Donald Trump in Detroit talking to 8,000 people at a Black church.”
However, the Trump campaign has not yet issued a statement regarding the size of the crowd, and it is unclear how many people were present at the church on Saturday.
Public Reaction
X, formerly Twitter, has been the forum for jokes and criticism of Conway’s claims since her remarks.
HuffPost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte made fun of the crowd size and wrote on X: “Ridiculous. It was at least 8 million.”
“Alternative Facts”
Activist Jules Morgan referred to Conway’s previous use of the phrase “alternative facts,” which she used in a Meet the Press interview in 2017 to defend then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer for erroneously claiming that Trump’s inaugural crowd was “the largest ever.”
“Ms Alternative Facts strikes again. There’s no way there were 8K people in that church,” Morgan wrote.
Trump Tactics
A few pundits have blamed Trump for filling the majority Black church with white fans and even “staging” the occasion to show a fuller crowd.
Christopher Webb, a frequent user of X and a lifelong Democrat, wrote on Saturday in response on X, “Trump is definitely going to win the Black vote…by filling a Black church with white folks for his rally.”
Biden Response
What’s more, the Biden-Harris campaign took to X to respond to the visit and wrote: “Trump’s desperate attempt at Black voter ‘outreach’ in front of a noticeably empty and white audience”
Notwithstanding, supporters applauded the former president for connecting with the African American population as one member noted during the roundtable conversation.
Detroit Pastor
According to a Detroit pastor: “I’m so humbled that you would be here. President Obama never came to the hood.”
He went on to say: “President Biden went to the big NAACP dinner but he never came to the hood — so Thank you!”
Importance of Michigan
Michigan, which Biden won against Trump in 2020 by 2.8 percent, is a crucial battleground state in the 2024 election.
Detroit is poised to play a significant role in determining the winner of Michigan’s electoral votes because it has one of the highest proportions of Black residents in the United States.
Trump’s Numbers
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released on Sunday found that approximately 15% of Black voters in Michigan have pledged their support for Trump.
This comes even though Trump only received support from less than 10% of Black voters in Michigan in 2020.
Polling Estimates
The poll, which was conducted in Michigan between June 9 and 13, surveyed 500 registered Black voters and has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
Back in 2020 92 percent of Black voters were reported to have voted for Biden as per the Pew Research Center.
Voter Options
Most Black voters according to the poll conducted recently, who don’t intend to support Biden won’t turn to Trump either on the ballot.
Instead, voters are leaning towards third-party candidates such as Cornel West or Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Almost 30 percent of those surveyed in both states say they are either undecided or would prefer voting for a third-party candidate.
