In years past, seeing a progressive, Democrat group going after a Republican presidential candidate in the state of New York would be akin to big game hunters pursuing mosquitos with a shotgun. What would be the point? But as the saying goes, that was then and this is now, and we're seeing new political realities popping up all over the map. In this case, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has taken out a series of attack ads focusing on Donald Trump in the Empire State's 4th Congressional District. In this case, however, the strategy might not be quite as nonsensical as it might look at first glance. The 4th District has a heavy Haitian American population even though the GOP currently holds it. They aren't going after Trump personally so much as they're hoping to rile up some Haitian nationalism in an effort to swing the district back to the Democrats, bringing them one step closer to retaking the House majority in November. (NBC News)
The Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee launched a five-figure digital advertising campaign Monday in New York’s 4th Congressional District urging Haitian Americans to vote in November “in an act of unity against bigoted attacks,” according to a source who shared the plans with NBC News.
The district is one where Democrats hope to flip control from Republicans in their bid to take the majority of the House.
As part of the effort, the group, often referred to as CBC PAC, has put out a new ad titled “Unity” that is narrated by a Haitian American woman and features former President Donald Trump’s past statements referring to African nations and Haiti as “shithole countries” and repeating lies accusing Haitians of abusing and eating animals in Springfield, Ohio.
As already noted, the Democrats are hoping to flip back this D+5 district to the Democrats by defeating GOP Congressman Anthony D’Esposito. He narrowly took the seat for the GOP in 2022, running as a law and order candidate, being a former law enforcement officer himself. Going after D'Esposito personally is difficult because he is once again running on addressing the crime and violence issues that have plagued the district all through Joe Biden's tenure. But the CBC believes they have caught the scent of a backdoor way to give him the boot by attacking Trump.
The advertisements the CBC is running specifically target Trump, featuring some of his previous comments about some African nations and Haiti being "sh*thole countries." The ads are narrated by a woman with a distinctly Haitian accent. She highlights some of Trump's comments about Haitian illegal migrants eating house pets in suburban Ohio areas, never seeming to mention D'Esposito by name. In a district that the GOP only carried with 51.8% of the vote in 2022, it wouldn't take all that many people to flip their votes to make a difference.
As for the rest of the ticket, Trump still isn't seriously threatening to carry New York in the general election. (If he were, the race would already be over for Kamala and the Democrats.) But the state is far closer today than it was ten years ago. Nobody has bothered polling the state recently aside from the individual campaigns, but Harris consistently maintains at least a ten-point lead. A switch back to the "D" column can't be ruled out.
And what of Trump's complaints about Haiti? This boils down to the difference between policy and reality. Trump has complained about everything from animal abuse to literal cannibalism. That sounds pretty bad until you consider the fact that the government in one of Haiti's major population centers has been taken over by a gang leader who goes by the name of BBQ because of a penchant for eating people. Is the comment really an insult if it's true? Why do you think so many Haitians fled to the United States to begin with? I somehow doubt they are pining for their villages back home.
Still, this isn't a bad strategy on the part of the CBC. We're not talking about an excessive amount of money and it's all being focused on a single district, albeit one that is in a relatively expensive media market. This will be a race to keep an eye on as we reach the closing weeks of the election. The Democrats were dealt a terrible hand to play by Biden and Harris, but they seem to be trying to make the most of it that they can.
