President Biden told a rally crowd of mostly Black voters in Philadelphia that former President Donald Trump is only considering pardons for those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2001 attack on the U.S. Capitol because the majority of rioters were White.
“What do you think would have happened if Black Americans had stormed the Capital? I don’t think he would be talking about pardons,” Mr. Biden said at Girard College, an independent college prep school with about 80% Black students. “This is the same guy who wanted to tear gas you as you peacefully protested George Floyd’s murder.”
The president’s depiction of Mr. Trump as a racist is his latest attempt to curry favor with Black voters who are abandoning Mr. Biden in droves.
“He’s that landlord who denies housing applications because of the color of your skin. He’s that guy who won’t say ‘Black Lives Matter,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, said last month he’d “absolutely” consider pardoning every single one of the hundreds of people convicted in connection with the Capitol riot. However, his campaign immediately walked that statement back, saying pardons would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appeared at Girard College to unveil the “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” initiative. The campaign describes it as a way to bolster outreach to Black voters through voter education and registration.
Black voters are the demographic that delivered Mr. Biden to the White House in 2020 but have since grown skeptical of him. Earlier this month, the president spoke at an NAACP dinner and delivered the commencement address at Morehouse College, the nation’s only historically black private liberal arts college for men.
In 2020, Mr. Biden enjoyed widespread support from African Americans, capturing 92% of their vote. Recent polls, however, show many Black voters flocking to former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee.
A New York Times/Siena College survey of battleground states released this week found Mr. Trump winning more than 20% of Black voters in a head-to-head fight with Mr. Biden. If that holds, it would amount to the highest African American vote for a Republican since Richard Nixon’s 30% in 1960.
The Biden campaign is also worried about slipping support in Pennsylvania.
While the race in the Keystone State is very close, polls show it inching toward Mr. Trump. The RealClearPolitics average of polls in the state shows Mr. Trump leading Mr. Biden by 2.3 points. A new poll last week from Cook Political Report showed Mr. Trump up by 3 points.
Mr. Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020, but based on current polls, if Mr. Trump captures all the states he won last election and wins Pennsylvania and one other swing state, he would return to the White House.
A New York Times/Siena College/Philadelphia Inquirer poll this month also showed softening support for Mr. Biden, who often cites his roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Among young voters, it found his support has dropped from 62% in 2020 to 47% in May. Support among Black and Hispanic voters has plunged from 71% in 2020 to 57% this month.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.