Trump Says Black and Brown Voters Are Flocking to the Republican Party

Trump claims Black and Brown voters reject communism and socialism as he ties the party to Abraham Lincoln in a Truth Social post.

First Published: August 9, 2026, 1:38 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump claimed Black and Brown voters are joining the Republican Party because they reject communism and socialism. The president tied that shift to the party’s founding legacy, invoking Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. Trump made the claim on Truth Social, framing demographic movement as a rejection of the political left. He offered no polling data or figures to support the assertion.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Black and Brown Voters don’t want Communism or Socialism — Not surprisingly, they are flocking to the Republican Party! They remember that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican! Trump” on August 9, 2026 at 5:14 PM ET.

This is Trump’s 9th message released today, and the last post was 22 minutes ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 110 of his 454 posts over the last 30 days classified as Elections posts.

The claim carries stakes for both parties as they compete for voters who have long anchored the Democratic coalition. Republicans stand to expand their base if the shift Trump describes materializes at the polls. Democrats risk erosion among constituencies they have relied on for decades. The assertion also feeds a broader Republican strategy to court diverse demographic groups ahead of coming elections.

Historical voting patterns complicate the picture Trump presents. Black and brown voters proved decisive in the 2020 presidential election, powering the Biden-Harris ticket in racially diverse cities and suburbs across Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia according to peoplesworld.org. Joe Biden won 87 percent of the Black vote, a higher share than any other group according to peoplesworld.org. Large numbers of white voters abandoned the Democrats after President Lyndon Johnson pushed through the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

Grassroots organizations have worked for years to mobilize these voters. Black Voters Matter, an American voting rights group founded by LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright in 2016, focused on voter registration and turnout in areas where at least 15 percent of the electorate is Black according to wikipedia.org. The group increased Black voter turnout in the 2020 and 2021 Georgia elections, including the U.S. Senate runoffs won by Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff according to wikipedia.org.

For the average reader, the claim signals how both parties will frame their appeals in the months ahead. Voters can expect intensified outreach to Black and brown communities, with each side casting the other as out of step with those constituencies. The messaging shapes which candidates campaign in which neighborhoods and how issues reach the public.

Trump has made similar claims before. He repeatedly asserted rising minority support during his prior campaigns, casting demographic gains as evidence of a party realignment. Such statements have become a recurring theme in his political messaging.

The next test of the claim will come at the ballot box. A specific date for the elections that would measure any such shift was not announced in the post, and Trump cited no survey or study to substantiate the assertion.

Republican efforts to woo Black voters trace back to the party’s origins, as happened long before this post. Abraham Lincoln, elected the first Republican president in 1860, signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and championed the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery according to wikipedia.org. For a century after, Black voters largely backed the party of Lincoln, until the Democratic embrace of civil rights legislation in the 1960s reversed that alignment according to peoplesworld.org. The realignment that followed reshaped both parties and left Lincoln’s successors courting a constituency that had drifted away.