as usual. Milwaukee for "Here& Now, I'm
Stephen Potter. >> In the 2020 election, Donald
Trump received just 7% of the black vote nationwide, which is
comparable to what Republican presidential candidates have
received dating back to the passage of the Civil Rights Act
in the 1960s. But Republicans in Wisconsin think that's going to
change this fall "Here& Now" Senior political reporter Zac
Schultz has this story about the GOP's black voter outreach
program in Milwaukee. >> There are 50,000 visitors in
Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention. But around
the secure perimeter, it's a sea of white, save for people
working security or selling Trump merchandise. Inside the
Fiserv, the GOP delegates are overwhelmingly white, but
Republicans like Bob Spindell say black voters look back at
the first Trump presidency with fondness.
been involved in the in the black community.
people were happy. >> Well, we're going to have a
big splash this election cycle. So get ready.
>> Gerard Randall is first vice chairman of the Republican Party
of Wisconsin. >> Well, good afternoon,
everyone, and welcome. >> He hosted an event Tuesday at
the GOP's Black Community Center just a few blocks north of the
convention, where pictures of Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan
hang next to Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Lincoln.
>> We're really excited for this opportunity to showcase a couple
of, our really outstanding efforts to extend outreach into
the African-American African American community here in
Milwaukee. was South Carolina Senator Tim
Scott, who is promoting the Opportunity Zones created in
Milwaukee, designed to bring investment to the area.
>> But the goal is simply to lift African Americans out of
poverty. The goal is to lift all of Americans out of poverty who
are living in poverty. It just so happens that
disproportionately African Americans live in poverty, more
so than any other demographic in this country.
>> I mean, they're they're they just want to be able to show a
presence. It's not like they're doing a lot in the entire
community. Milwaukee County Executive and a
Democrat. He says the GOP putting a building with a
billboard in a black neighborhood isn't enough to win
black votes. >> Sometimes folks don't know
how to actually address, you know, black folks. And we've
seen, you know, glad Senator Tim Scott was in in a black
neighborhood. But let's face it, one of the first things he said
on the convention floor was that racism doesn't exist. And
whether you're a Democrat or a Republican and happen to be
black, living in one of the most segregated communities in the
United States like Milwaukee County, then you have to go, not
not quite. Not so fast. >> The black conservative
Federation held a barbecue later that evening, hoping to draw in
and engage potential voters. Turnout was low, but the
Reverend Harold Turner showed up, saying he was willing to
listen. it's important to know where you
come from, and then you possibly can go forward. You need to know
your opponents as well. So if the Republican is an opponent,
we need to know if a Democrat is doing a lot for us. We need to
know that too, and we should hold them accountable to address
some of the real needs that we are in dire need of. The black
community. delegate, Bob Spindell is also a
Republican appointee to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
After the 2022 election, he sent out an email praising lower
turnout in black neighborhoods in Milwaukee, saying, we can be
especially proud of the city of Milwaukee casting 37,000 less
votes than cast in the 2018 election, with the major
reduction happening in the overwhelmingly black and
Hispanic areas, Spindell says getting black people to not vote
for Democrats was the first step to voting for Republicans.
>> Take a look at what the Dems have done for the community over
the last 50 years. Nothing has changed. Very little has changed
from what the Democrats have been doing.
evidence of voter suppression. >> There was no effort on the
part of the Republican Party either nationally, locally or
statewide, to depress the African American vote. Voters
may have stayed home on their own volition because, frankly,
the message just wasn't resonating with them.
>> Randall says. The proof will come this November, when he says
Trump will double his support among black voters in Wisconsin.
>> We are going to get better than 15% of the African-American
vote statewide here for President Trump.
>> I don't know where he's getting those numbers from,
Crowley says the RNC will be old news by November, and black
voters remember which party supports their community. It's
about investments. You can be here all you want and say, I
support you, but I tell people all the time, it's not about
being an ally. You know, we needed accomplice. I needed you
to be right next to me, with me going down and fighting for the