Leaning especially hard into well-worn racial stereotypes, Fox News pundit Raymond Arroyo this week insisted Black Americans will support Donald Trump in this presidential election because “they love sneakers.”
Over the weekend, the twice-impeached ex-president made a surprise appearance at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia, unveiling his new self-branded merchandise including the gold “Never Surrender High Top Sneaker” selling for $399.
After the limited-edition MAGA shoes quickly sold out, Arroyo suggested Sunday on Fox’s Big Weekend Show that Black voters will now abandon the Democratic Party and President Joe Biden because the former president is selling athletic footwear. (The segment went largely unnoticed until later this week when a clip from it went viral on social media.)
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Asserting that Trump’s poll numbers have only seemed to improve amid his ever-increasing legal headaches, the most recent involving a $364 million judgment in a New York civil fraud case, Arroyo then contrasted that to Biden’s sinking approval numbers among minorities.
“[Trump] somehow survives, which must drive his opponents crazy, because even the sneaker thing. I was on social media last night. Very interesting as you see Black support eroding from Joe Biden,” the Fox News co-host declared based on tweets he read.
“This is connecting with Black America because they love sneakers!” Arroyo added. “They’re into sneakers… this is a big deal, certainly in the inner city. So when you have Trump roll out his sneaker line, they’re like, ‘Wait a minute, this is cool!’”
Taking it several steps further, the conservative commentator—who has previously gotten into hot water with the Anti-Defamation League for peddling antisemitic tropes—continued to plainly argue that Black Americans will be easily swayed to MAGA because of their affinity for high-tops. “He’s reaching them on a level that defies and is above politics,” Arroyo exclaimed. “The culture always trumps politics, and Trump understands culture like no politician I’ve ever seen.”
Right-wing Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren wondered if the sneaker connection would translate into “them going out and voting for Donald Trump,” prompting Arroyo to declare: “Anybody willing to put 400 bucks down for a pair of sneakers? Yeah, I think that’s commitment and love. It’s something, it’s affection on some level. I don’t think this is just for collectors. It’s for people who want Donald Trump-brand sneakers that, again, he’s connecting on a different level.”
While there is polling that suggests Trump could receive double-digit Black support in the upcoming election—the most a Republican candidate has received in generations—conservatives incorrectly believed Trump would pull in record Black American support in 2020.
In fact, days before the 2020 election, right-wing media ran wild with a survey from conservative polling firm Rasmussen that found nearly one-third of Black voters would vote for Trump. In the end, Biden won the Black vote 92 percent to Trump’s 8 percent.
