President Donald Trump's popularity with black voters continues to surge, despite constant attacks from Democrats and many in the traditional media calling him racist. The latest Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll has Trump's approval rating among black voters at 36 percent, up from 19 percent a year ago and more than four times greater than the eight percent of the black vote the President received in the 2016 election.
The increase in support from the black community comes amidst soaring economic growth, with unemployment at its lowest level in decades and African-American and Hispanic unemployment at record lows. Bill Calhoun, chairman of Texas Federation for Republican Outreach, says his fellow black voters are simply looking at facts and truth. "They know what's happening in their households and in their wallets, and they're giving Trump credit for it," he tells KTRH. "The (economic) policies are personally affecting them---they're seeing their children getting jobs, they're seeing wages going up---and they're admitting to me, I didn't like him at first but he's doing a good job."
For that reason, Calhoun doesn't believe there will be a "blue wave" for Democrats in this fall's elections, as many pundits are predicting. "I believe (Republicans) are going to hold on to the House, and I believe it's going to be because of black voters," he says. "I think in a lot of states where there is a significant black population, black voters are going to turn out in higher numbers than usual for Republican candidates."
The Rasmussen survey has President Trump's overall job approval rating at 49 percent, with 49 percent disapproving.