US election campaign Could this population group tip the balance?

Donald Trump is increasingly courting the favor of black men. However, a survey shows that the Republican still has a hard time with black men. But many do not seem to have high hopes for a possible presidency for Kamala Harris either.

According to a survey, black voters in the USA show a clear preference for presidential candidate Kamala Harris, but do not expect profound improvements in their lives if she wins the election.

Only around half of those surveyed thought that the description "would change the country for the better" applied to Harris, according to a survey by the AP news agency and the Norc polling institute. And only around half believed that the outcome of the presidential election in November would have a big or fairly big impact on their personal situation - an assessment that is in line with that of most Americans.

Harris will only be able to change things to a limited extent

"The Democratic Party is not strong enough for me," said 53-year-old Raina Johnson from Chicago. Although Harris will "try to do something for the people" if she wins, she fears that she will have limited room for maneuver, as was the case with Barack Obama, "because the Republican Party held him down".

The AP and Norc poll also found that around seven in ten black voters had a somewhat positive or very positive opinion of Harris. There were no differences between black women and men, and the situation was similar between young and older people within the population group.

Donald Trump is rather unpopular

By contrast, most black voters apparently think little of former President Donald Trump: around eight out of ten respondents had a somewhat poor or very poor opinion of the Republican. Only around 15 percent rated Trump positively.

And only one in ten blacks thought that the attributions "Would change the country for the better" or "Would fight for people like you" suited him well. Trump is also campaigning primarily for the votes of black men, with his campaign organizing events in black-majority neighborhoods in cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.

If Harris were to win the election, she would be the first woman, the first black woman and the first American with Indian roots to hold the office of president.

dpa