US mid-term elections: black women backing Trump? ‘Why not?’

African-Americans are not a common sight at Donald Trump rallies, much less African-American women.

Takosha Swan, left, and Annette Davis Jackson at Trump rally in Macon, Georgia, yesterday. Picture: Cameron Stewart

African-Americans are not a common sight at Donald Trump ­rallies, much less African-­American women.

But in Macon, Georgia, Tak­osha Swan and Annette Davis Jackson are not only fans of the President — they are running for office as Republicans.

And this is in a state where a Democrat, Stacey Abrams, is ­hoping to become the country’s first female African-American governor.

“Why not? Donald Trump has got unemployment down, we have more jobs, he is protecting our borders, he is doing his job,” says Swan, who is running for the Georgia state house.

She says African-Americans, who are mostly Democrats, are wrong to shun Trump and the Republicans. “It’s really important for African-Americans to read about our history because the Republican Party is the anti-slavery party,” she says, pointing out that it was ­Republican president Abraham Lincoln who fought the civil war to abolish slavery.

“Our party has always worked for black people to have a better life, to live well.”

Jackson, who is running for the state Senate, said: “Trump is a businessman and we believe in business and economic development because it lifts up everybody.”

They are proof of a much broader political spectrum for American women than the polls suggest. According to polls, most African-American women, as well as educated white women, are set to cast a powerful protest vote against Trump and the Republicans this week.

That may well turn out to be the case, but Trump’s rallies, such as the one in Macon yesterday, ­attract almost as many women as men, often holding up pink “Women For Trump” signs.

Supporters cheer for Donald Trump at a rally in Chattanooga, Tennessee yesterday. Picture: AFP

The women The Australian spoke to yesterday also came from a wide variety of educational and economic backgrounds, which is also not what the polls suggest. “The thing I like about Trump is that he is not afraid to get his hands dirty,” says Rebecca LePlant, a bookkeeper and a mother of four from Gainesville, Georgia.

“We needed something strong to shake up this country and I love his stand on immigration and I love what he has done to the economy and I am totally OK with him,” she says.

Jean Jordan says she decided to attended the rally because she is angered by the attacks by Democrats on Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh over an alleged sexual assault at a party 36 years ago. “All I can think about was my sons being treated like that down the road; he was treated very badly and I think she just made stuff up,” she says.

Yet for each female fan of Trump, the polls suggest there are many more who don’t like him.

A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that 38 per cent of women approved of the job he was doing, well below his overall ­approval rating of the mid-40s. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released yesterday showed that women backed Democrat candidates by 54 per cent to 40 per cent compared with a 47 to 46 per cent split in favour of Republicans by men. White women with college degrees favour Democratic candidates by 16 points while white women without college degrees favour Republicans by 12 points.

President Donald Trump speaks during the rally yesterday. Picture: AP

Nelda Willis, 74, who raised her son as a single mum in Atlanta, says security and guns are the ­reason she likes Trump and will vote Republican.

“I brought a disabled veteran here today,” she says. “These people gave their sweat and blood and many died so we can have freedom. The Democrats and the liberals don’t want guns or security.

“I was carjacked and robbed by three black males in Atlanta and hospitalised for 12 days.

“The Democrats have empathy with crime — they would only slap people in the wrist and that’s not good enough.”

Ruth War, 36, said she was at the rally because she liked how Trump was bringing “the fear of God back into America”.

“I like to share the gospel across the country and Trump is pro-God and pro-life,” she says.

Asked what she thought about Trump’s alleged affair and payoff of porn star Stormy Daniels, War said she didn’t mind.

“I don’t agree with a lot of the ways of Trump as a man but we are all flawed, we are all broken,” she said. “I just hope that he will affect more lives by doing good for the country.”

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia