Voters in a predominantly black Georgia county are nearly evenly divided in their support for Joe Biden and Donald Trump for president, but some wish other surprise candidates would enter the race.
DeKalb County, a majority-black county in Atlanta that won for Biden by a whopping 67 points in 2020, is expected to be a Democratic stronghold in the upcoming 2024 elections.
Ahead of CNN’s first presidential debate on Thursday in Atlanta, DailyMail.com spoke exclusively with area Black voters about which candidate they support and what their thoughts are ahead of the first political sweepstakes.
Support for Trump and Biden was evenly split among voters interviewed, but some said they support neither — and would support alternative options such as Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
Richard, a voter from DeKalb County, said he will support Joe Biden for president but wishes there were different options on the Democrats’ side. He told DailyMail.com that he would have preferred to vote for Michelle Obama or Oprah Winfrey rather than Biden
“Well, I would say Trump, because of how long Biden has been in power [he] really hasn’t done enough for us, man,” Cliff told DailyMail.com about who he will be supporting in November. “And I just feel like having an older president in the office, you can’t keep up with the new times.”
“So it’s just like that [Biden] may have good intentions, but with his age he can only do so much.’
Cliff said he likes Trump because of his experience as a businessman.
“Trump is focused on business, and I have a business myself,” he said. ‘When Trump was around [the] presidency, he was more businesslike… he took more care of the companies.”
“I feel like Biden is more cultural. He focuses on relationships and on marriages and stuff,” he continued. “You need that, but you also need help with the business community, because that’s how businesses run America. So he focused on the money. That’s why you have to follow the money.’
But another man, Leon, a 20-year military veteran, said there is no way he can support former President Trump.
Cliff said he supports Donald Trump because he owns a business and he sees the former president as a champion of business. Biden, he said, is more focused on cultural issues
Leon, a military veteran, told DailyMail.com that he supports Joe Biden and cannot stand Donald Trump. However, he said he would have liked to see another Democrat in Joe Biden’s place
Donald Trump and Joe Biden will meet in Atlanta on Thursday evening in the first presidential debate of 2024. The Black voters interviewed for this article are all from the Atlanta area’s DeKalb County
“There’s nothing honest about what comes out of his mouth. So for me, of course, I couldn’t vote for him,” he said.
Leon said he would support Biden in November, but only because he so disliked Trump, whom he was long acquainted with growing up in the Northeast.
“I knew who Trump was before most of these people here knew who they were from the South. He grew up in the North and was a mess then, he’s still a mess.”
Still, he admitted that Joe is not the desired candidate.
“I wish there had been someone else who would have run for a ticket on the Democratic side, but Biden is doing a great job,” Leon told DailyMail.com, although he did not say who he would have preferred to vote for.
Additionally, an older black man named Richard also expressed support for Biden.
“Biden has done a pretty good job,” he said, before later adding, “I would like to see someone else in the debate.”
‘Two of them on top of my head: I say Oprah Winfrey, she would have been a good one, and Michelle [Obama], she would have been a good one. I think those two women would have been good candidates for president.”
Around the corner, another man, Tony, said he doesn’t support any of the top candidates.
‘Biden and Trump? Who do I support? I don’t support either. Why? I don’t think any of them have the best interests of me and people who look like me and mine,” he told DailyMail.com.
One voter suggested that Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey would be good presidential candidates for the Democratic ticket
Several voters told DailyMail.com they do not support Donald Trump or Joe Biden
Tony said he could cast his vote for RFK Jr. or Cornell West
When pressed, he said he would indeed vote, but he is keeping an eye on some other candidates.
“I see the other names on the ballots. I see Cornell West, I see Kennedy, and at the last minute I might throw my name in there.”
“I would certainly like to see another third-party candidate,” he added. “Who that would be, I’m not sure.”
The responses of voters interviewed by DailyMail.com appear to be in line with a recent poll that showed Trump leading by five points in Georgia.
The survey, conducted by the Atlanta Constitution Journal, found that Trump had 43 percent of the vote and Biden had 38 percent.
It also found support for third-party candidates.
Independent Robert Kennedy Jr. received nine percent of the votes and eight percent of respondents were still undecided.
It comes as the two candidates make final preparations for what could be one of the most consequential showdowns ever in presidential politics.
The poll is a setback for Biden, who on his way to the White House in 2020 became the first Democrat in nearly three decades to win the Peach State. He will have to maintain support in the southern state to sail back to a second term.
Trump, meanwhile, is trying to boost his support in the typically Republican state, which he lost by about 12,000 votes in the last election.
Independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. received support from some voters interviewed by DailyMail.com
However, much to the dismay of Kennedy’s supporters, CNN will not allow the independent to participate in Thursday’s debate
Ajmal told DailyMail.com that he hopes Americans will support independent candidates instead of Republicans or Democrats
“I’m not passionate about either of them,” Ajmal said of Biden and Trump.
He claimed that none of their policies aligned with his centrist views, saying: “Their decisions and their political positions on a lot of different things, whether it’s abortion rights, war, just plain absurd conservatism and just way too liberal and laid back are’, are not. tasty.
“Maybe I’m more independent, and that’s what I’d probably vote for,” he added before mentioning how he might likely vote for Kennedy.
“I would like to see the Independent Party grow,” Ajmal said. “I want more Americans to think independently and support those candidates.”
Joel told DailyMail.com that he is voting for Trump after not seeing enough happen with Biden.
‘I’m going for Trump because too many things are happening, like the war in Ukraine. And… the wall and we allow everyone into this country. We don’t work and everyone works with us. In short, I think Trump only does more useful things for the people.’
Joel said he supports Trump because he believes he will focus more on domestic issues and less on foreign concerns, such as the war in Ukraine.
“Trump is not playing,” he continued. “He’s an honest person, you know. Maybe he said a lot of things, a lot of crazy things, but I think he would be the better president.”
“We need someone who is going to make a change for us,” Joel added. “We need to stop worrying about everyone and start worrying about what’s happening here in this country.”