This was supposed to be the post-Barack Obama presidential election when Republicans regained a modest share of the black vote, but Donald Trump has watched support among these voters fade nationwide and in battleground states where minorities could play a decisive role.
The Republican presidential nominee is missing a golden opportunity to make inroads to black communities. Worse yet for the New York real estate mogul, he is driving black voters to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton — in one survey he attracted just 1 percent of blacks […]
Early on, Mr. Trump had an opening with black voters, who, like the majority of all voters, said they don’t trust Mrs. Clinton. But the opening rapidly closed as black voters increasingly came to distrust Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump touts his support among minorities and has made overt appeals to black voters, including making the case that President Obama’s policies have left them behind with unemployment rates double that of whites.
“I will do more for the African-American people than Barack Obama has ever done,” Mr. Trump declared at a recent rally in Phoenix. […]
However, as often as Mr. Trump reaches out to black voters, he alienates them.
“Look at my African-American over here! Look at him!” Mr. Trump called out, pointing to a black man in the crowd at a rally in California.
