Biden sees black support erode to Bloomberg

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s struggling presidential campaign is in serious danger of seeing its support from black voters erode, and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg may be the biggest beneficiary. A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday offered a huge warning sign. It found black support for Bloomberg surging to 22 percent, with Biden’s support falling to 27 percent.

While Biden, who has centered his campaign on his support from black voters, was still in the lead, it was by a much more narrow margin after he finished a distant fourth place in the Iowa caucuses. “This spells trouble for the VP,” said one Democratic strategist who is unaffiliated with any of the presidential campaigns.

Bloomberg has long faced questions about his own appeal to black voters given his support for “stop and frisk” policies in New York. Bloomberg sought to defend his record and distance himself from the speech in a statement:

“I inherited the police practice of stop-and-frisk, and as part of our effort to stop gun violence it was overused,” he said. “By the time I left office, I cut it back by 95 percent, but I should've done it faster and sooner. I regret that and I have apologized — and I have taken responsibility for taking too long to understand the impact it had on Black and Latino communities.”

“In contrast, President Trump inherited a country marching towards greater equality and divided us with racist appeals and hateful rhetoric,” he said. “The challenge of the moment is clear: we must confront this President and do everything we can to defeat him.”