With less than four weeks until Election Day, 30% of black voters identify as Independents or Republicans, and now is the time for former president Donald Trump to hone in on his administration’s plan for economic revival. This is a crucial part of the electorate Trump must win over before Election Day. 

While a vast majority of older black voters support Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s ability to reach younger black voters might not only aid him in securing four more years, but also the broader Republican party’s efforts to make inroads with historic Democratic constituencies. 

Trump received 8% of the black vote in 2016, a higher percentage than any other Republican candidate since George Bush in 2000. He increased this number to 12% by 2020. 

A vast majority of black likely voters in key states will vote for Harris, according to a recent Howard Initiative On Public Opinion poll. While the Democratic Party has enjoyed constant and overwhelming support from black Americans, Trump has made serious gains among young, black, male likely voters. 

This shift is part of a larger trend in which Republicans are beginning to win over more working class and minority voters, especially with high inflation and cost of living under recent Democratic administrations. 

Young black voters could be future homeowners, school board members, and community leaders, but under the Biden-Harris economy, more must rent rather than own homes, live paycheck-to-paycheck, and are pessimistic about their economic future, according to a report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. 

Inflation is up almost 15% since Biden and Harris took office in January 2021. Life is getting more expensive. It might not affect some people, but it means everything to the roughly three-fourths of Americans currently living paycheck to paycheck, according to Forbes.

While this constituency doesn’t make up a massive percentage of the electorate, it has been crucial to the success of Democrats in recent elections, especially in cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, and Atlanta that can make or break a swing state election. 

The election this November will likely come down to a handful of swing states that President Joe Biden won last cycle by a margin of around 45,000 votes. 

Honing in on this issue — instead of the 2020 election and Haitian eating habits — will win Trump the presidency. 

Trump just has to ask Harris why she was unable to accomplish her plans during this administration. Why must Americans grant Harris four more years to reap the benefits of policies she claims to support?

Then Trump must remind Americans of the economic boom that the nation enjoyed under his presidency. 

Voters’ memories are often fleeting, something Harris is attempting to take advantage of. Trump still has time to remind black voters how he made America great again, so they can give him a chance to do it again.  

Joshua Mistry is a junior studying politics.