A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Vice President Kamala Harris is on a push this week to court Black voters, specifically men.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
While Black voters overwhelmingly back the Democratic ticket, Black men are not showing as much enthusiasm for Harris as they did for the Democratic nominee when President Biden ran in 2020 or when former President Barack Obama ran before him. And as some Black men gravitate toward former President Donald Trump, Democrats are concerned that, even in small numbers, this could cut into Harris' chances in key swing states.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's White House correspondent, Deepa Shivaram, is traveling with Harris - joins us now from Detroit, Michigan. So Deepa, Harris is rolling out new policy proposals focused on Black men. She's going to be talking about it today. What's on the agenda?
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: So she's going to talk about a lot of proposals with an economic lens, and she has a big focus on entrepreneurs. So part of this plan is to give one million loans to Black entrepreneurs and others - up to $20,000 - and those loans are forgivable. She also says she'll legalize recreational marijuana and make sure there's a role for Black entrepreneurs in that business. And Harris says she'll do more as president to try and protect cryptocurrency assets, and she points to how more than 20% of Black Americans own or have owned crypto.
MARTÍNEZ: OK, so that's the message. How's she going to get that message out?
SHIVARAM: So she'll be talking about her plans today at a town hall she's doing with radio host Charlamagne tha God. He's one of the hosts of the popular morning show, "The Breakfast Club." It airs on stations across the country and is popular among younger Black people in particular. It's a show candidates running for president often appear on. And Charlamagne can be a tough interviewer. You know, he's been critical of Democratic candidates in the past, like with President Biden when he was a candidate for President back in 2020.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Last week, former President Barack Obama said he thinks Black men are having an issue with voting for a woman for president. How is Kamala Harris responding to that?
SHIVARAM: You know, she was asked about Obama's comments by The Shade Room, which is also very popular with Black audiences. And she didn't really acknowledge anything about her polls that have been showing some weakness with Black men. But she did say, in essence, that she doesn't take anyone's vote for granted just because of who she is. Take a listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Black men are no different from anybody else. They expect that you have to earn their vote. And that's why I'm out here doing the work that I'm doing - about talking with folks, listening with folks.
SHIVARAM: And, you know, this is an election that's going to be so, so close. We keep saying it. So Harris has to drum up enthusiasm and support from her base voters, even as she also tries to spend time here trying to appeal to independent voters and Republican voters. And that's something we saw from her last night at a rally.
MARTÍNEZ: Where was that rally at?
SHIVARAM: So we were in Erie, Pennsylvania. It's a pivot county. So it went twice for Obama, then Trump in 2016, and then Biden last time around. And Harris did something new last night. She had a giant video screen, and she played a kind of highlight reel of things that Trump has said recently that her campaign feels haven't been getting enough attention.
And in these final weeks, you know, they're trying to break through to moderate Republican voters and independents and say, you know, hey, there are some things that Trump is saying that are dangerous - particularly his recent comments that, if he wins the election, the National Guard or even the military could be used to handle what he called, quote, "the enemy within" - in other words, his opponents. And, you know, I've been to a lot of Harris' rallies. This highlight-reel approach was a first, and we'll see if she uses it again later this week.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So Erie, Pennsylvania, last night, in Detroit today - where does she go next?
SHIVARAM: She'll be ping-ponging around the blue-wall states this week - Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. She's doing a lot more interviews as well, including a big one coming up tomorrow. She's sitting down with Fox News host Bret Baier, and it's her first time ever interviewing with the network.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Deepa Shivaram. Thanks, Deepa.
SHIVARAM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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