MILWAUKEE — During a gathering to honor the Black delegates at this year’s Republican National Convention, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott told fellow party leaders he knows they feel lonely at times.
“As African American conservatives, sometimes it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one,” he said. “Anybody ever feel that way?”
“Yeah,” several people shouted out. Others applauded in agreement.
“You are not the only one,” the South Carolina Republican continued. “There are thousands, if not millions all around the country that believe like we believe, pray like we believe, and do what we know needs to be done. If we keep doing, the people will follow.”
The Black conservatives attending this year’s convention say they are not only the fruits of the party’s effort to bring in more voters of color but active participants in that mission. Latino Republicans said much the same, pledging support for former President Donald Trump and making assurances that polls showing him gaining ground with voters of color will be backed up by results in November.
Black Republicans such as Scott believe the party is making inroads among Black and Latino voters that coincides with its reshaping by Trump. They say the increasing number of Black Republicans in Congress ― alongside Scott in the Senate, there are four Black GOP lawmakers in the House — is accompanied by polling that shows more Black and brown voters are willing to support the Republican ticket this year.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Rufus Montgomery, an Atlanta-based lobbyist and Georgia delegate to the convention, helped organize the event for Black conservatives to celebrate their growing ranks. He said this year’s RNC was “one of the most diverse ever.”
“It was all as a result of Donald Trump,” Montgomery said. “I’ve been involved in the party actively for 32 years, and I’ve never seen the excitement that has come, particularly from African Americans, toward the Republican presidential nominee.”
Around lunchtime the following day, Miami resident Flor de lis Grotestan walked through the lobby of the Hyatt Regency wearing a red “Latinas for Trump” hat that matched her “Make America Great Again” jacket.
Originally from Cuba, Grotestan said her single biggest concern as a voter is combating communism.
Grotestan said she was “born in a slum,” but she has lived in South Florida the past two decades. She operates a produce stand in Miami, selling oranges, avocados, corn, mangoes and other seasonal items.
”I don’t want communism for my grandson.” she said. “In Cuba, I (didn’t) have shoes, I (didn’t) have food, I (didn’t) have nothing. Everything is bad.”
She said she is voting for Trump in November because she views him as “an anti-communist symbol.”
Credit: NYT
Credit: NYT
Under Trump, the Republican Party’s “America First” messaging leans heavy on conservative Christianity, isolationism and populism. Speakers at the RNC have repeatedly criticized efforts to protect the rights of transgender people and calling for dismantling the federal bureaucracy to allow for more individual freedoms and curbing illegal immigration.
There are signs that some of it is breaking through to voters of color. More Latinos have expressed an openness to the GOP’s tough enforcement stance on the border. Messaging that describes unauthorized immigrants as stealing jobs and diverting local resources away from taxpaying citizens has been targeted at Black voters.
When Democrats make their pitch to voters of color, they tend to focus on themes of inclusion, strengthening government programs and the social safety net. They speak of making cities better places to live by improving infrastructure and combating climate change. Those themes are likely to play out next month when the Democratic National Convention convenes in Chicago.
Historically, Democratic candidates are heavily supported by Black and Asian American voters. Latinos also tend to vote Democratic, although to a lesser extent.
But recent polling for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows that under Trump the Republican Party has cut into Democrats’ hold on these voters of color. In June, only 69% of Black survey respondents said they planned to vote for Biden with another 18% undecided or planning to support a third-party candidate.
Compare that with 2020, where CNN exit polling indicated that 88% of Black voters in Georgia had supported Biden. The AJC polling shows Black voters’ in Georgia support Trump at nearly the same level in 2024 as 2020.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Several Black Republicans with slots at the RNC this year mentioned their race, not as a point for the Republican Party to consider but as proof that the American dream is attainable for all. They spoke of Black Democrats as misguided and voting according to tradition instead of their own interests.
Aurora, Illinois, Mayor Richard Irvin, who describes himself as the Republican leader of a blue city in the blue state, said that it’s time for Black voters to get off the Democrats’ train.
“The Democratic Party has written us a promissory note marked ‘returned to sender due to insufficient funds,’ ” he told fellow conservatives during Tuesday’s gathering. “We cannot accept that bounced check. Let’s make sure that we have the leadership that we need to make good on their promises. If they don’t, they do not deserve to govern.”
Although the RNC remains overwhelmingly white, there is a small-but-vocal contingent of conservatives of color ready to back Trump. That includes some groups of non-U. S. residents in town for the convention, even though they can’t vote in November’s election.
On Wednesday morning, a group of Korean nationals walked through downtown wearing MAGA hats and waving large U.S. and South Korean flags.
Kevin Jang, 27, said he came to the U.S. with a group of 11 Koreans and six other friends from England and Germany.
”We’re here to support Trump,” Jang said. “We know that out of the two (major) candidates, he’s the best chance we have at world peace.”
Jang said the former president “is standing up for American values,” which in turn helps the rest of the world. “If I could vote, I would,” he said. “I can’t, but I’m here to support him anyway. I’m trying to help.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Ricardo St. Louis-Franklin of Rancho Cucamonga, California, is a Black delegate from a state that has one of the most diverse delegations at the RNC. He is the son of immigrant parents who didn’t identify with a party but whose politics leaned conservative. As he grew older, St. Louis-Franklin found himself more aligned and getting more involved in the Republican Party.
He said the party is continuing to make efforts to diversify its ranks, but it can be tough at times to appeal to Black voters who have been closely aligned with the Democratic Party for decades.
He has tried to influence his family members to consider voting Republican, but it’s a tough sell.
“It’s a hard conversation to have, right?” he said. “I don’t feel like it’s indoctrination or anything like that. However, I do feel as though, if you grow up seeing one thing, you’re going to do one thing.”
But he is hopeful that as more people watching the convention on TV see people in the crowd like him that they will consider their options.
“I feel as though after conventions like this, after seeing more and more, it starts with one,” he said. “It’s going to be two, then four, then eight, and it’s going to continue to grow.”
