Voters in a Detroit barbershop who are split between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump spoke with Fox News’ Lawrence Jones about the election.
Voters in a Detroit barber shop got candid about the 2024 presidential election, with many torn about whom to cast their ballot for as Vice President Kamala Harris struggles to gain ground with Black males.
“Fox & Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones spoke with voters at the barber shop to gauge their opinion on the state of the race, as the economy, crime and illegal immigration remain top issues just weeks before Election Day.
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“I’m still in between myself. A lot of decisions have to be made,” one voter told Jones. “Me being an entrepreneur and a father and a grandfather, I’m looking at what state my children will be in ten years from now.”
“I do think that Trump has some benefits as far as bringing and keeping our jobs right here, right here in this country, not sending another job overseas,” he continued. “We’re already going through enough crises right here in our country, and I think the working class, we need more job security right here in this country.”
Some voters argued the race is a complete toss-up as recent polling has indicated Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck in key battleground states.
“I think it’s a coin flip at this time,” one voter said. “I really do.”
“I think the country is so divided you wouldn’t have numbers like you have if the country weren’t divided between the two candidates,” another voter said. “It’s pretty much 50/50.”
Meanwhile, Harris has tried to woo Black males specifically, as her support dwindles within the demographic.
According to a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Saturday, Harris currently holds 78% of the Black vote, which is down from 2020, when President Biden won approximately 90% of that voting bloc. It’s also down from 2016, when Hillary Clinton won approximately 92% of the Black vote. Harris’ support among Black men has dropped even more significantly, according to the report: 70% said they would vote for Harris in November, down from Biden’s 85% in 2020.
The vice president dismissed concerns about the dismal polling earlier this week, suggesting that the trend could change in the coming weeks before the November election.
“One, that’s not my experience,” Harris said during an interview on Black-focused entertainment outlet “The Shade Room.” “Two, Election Day has not arrived yet.”
Jones said about half of the voters said they would support Trump and the other half would support Harris, although there were still some that were undecided.
“At the end of the day, I’m Trump because… My eyes [are] open,” one voter said. “I can see that he was doing a lot better than what we going through right now. You can’t even go to the grocery stores right now without making a life decision or what you want to get… You got to compromise.”
Two voters argued emotion should be taken out of the equation when deciding who to vote for.
“The problem is… We vote emotion. That’s not smart,” one voter said. “We need to vote. We need to educate ourselves first.”
This comes after former President Barack Obama scolded Black men on the campaign trail, bluntly saying he could not understand why Harris was not enjoying the same level of enthusiasm, noting that the hesitation was “more pronounced with the brothers.”
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“You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses,” Obama said. “I’ve got a problem with that.”
Speaking directly to Black males, the former president said that “part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”
In a bid to shore up support, Harris released her “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men” this week, which includes providing 1 million loans that are fully forgivable to Black entrepreneurs and others to start a business, championing education, training and mentorship programs that help Black men get good-paying jobs in high-demand industries and lead their communities, including pathways to become teachers.
Regardless, some voters are still torn.
“The presidency is not a person,” one voter told Jones. “It’s an institution that should be protected… and I think we need to get back to that, understanding the position, understanding what the intended job is.”
“It’s not Kamala Harris. It’s not Joe Biden. It’s not Donald Trump,” he continued. “It’s the United States of America.”
Fox News’ Kristine Parks, Nikolas Lanum and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
