South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is polling at 0 percent among African Americans, according to a new CNN poll.
What We Know:
- The poll released Monday showed Buttigieg comes in with only 4 percent support in the race for Democratic nomination. That’s down from 7 percent in late April. He currently scores 0 percent with African Americans which is less than the 1 percent he had with them in a combined sample of CNN’s April and May polls.
- His struggle in the presidential primary comes as activists challenge his leadership as mayor over the way he handled the death of an African American man at the hands of a white South Bend cop. Overall Buttigieg is polled at fifth behind Joe Biden, Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
- Buttigieg responded to his support of 0 percent by black voters by telling CNN’s D.J. Judd they “need to understand the details of the Douglass plan that we’re continuing to roll out, and frankly they need to see me in action for a longer period of time.” Last month, Buttigieg proposed a “Douglass Plan” to improve African American prosperity across the nation.
- The plan includes reforms for credit scoring, a reduction in the number of African Americans incarcerated and increasing federal government contracts with minority-owned businesses from 5 percent to 25 percent, according to NBC News.
- This challenge comes amid his celebration of raising nearly $25 million during his second fundraising quarter.
Two tiers of 2020 presidential candidates emerged in the CNN poll this week, with Biden, Harris, Warren and Sanders being a full 10 percentage points ahead of the other contenders. Buttigieg is at the top of the second tier of candidates followed by Sen. Cory Booker and former Texas Congressman Beto O’ Rourke.
Buttigieg tells @DJJudd in Chicago that his lack of support from black voters shows they “need to understand the details of the Douglass plan that we’re continuing to roll out, and frankly they need to see me in action for a longer period of time.” https://t.co/ANb8CbzUKN
— Dan Merica (@merica) July 2, 2019
