Fact Check: Is Donald Trump’s claim he won ‘almost 40 percent’ of Black votes in 2024 election true?

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump claimed during a White House event on February 20, 2025, that he had garnered "almost 40 percent" of the Black vote in the 2024 presidential election.

This claim, made while celebrating Black History Month alongside golf legend Tiger Woods, drew attention and prompted fact-checking due to discrepancies with available polling data.

Trump, speaking to the crowd, said: "I'm proud to say that we, we received, listen to this, more votes from Black Americans than any Republican president ever. Almost, almost 40 percent of the vote."

However, this statement does not align with the data from various reputed sources, Newsweek reported.

Polling data shows Donald Trump got 16-17% of Black vote, far short of 'almost 40%' claim

Polling data from one news company's VoteCast, which surveyed 120,000 voters nationwide, found that only 16 percent of Black voters supported for Donald Trump in the 2024 election. This marks the largest share of Black votes for a Republican candidate since Gerald Ford in 1976, but it is far from the "almost 40 percent" claim.

Additional research from the Public Religion Research Institute, CNN Exit polls, and Navigator all provide similar figures, consistently showing Trump received around 16-17 percent of the Black vote.

Though Trump did make notable gains, particularly among the Black community, none of the data supports the claim of 40 percent support from Black voters overall.

Donald Trump's claim of highest Black vote share among Republicans is misleading historically

Donald Trump also stated that he had received more votes from Black Americans than any Republican president in history. While this is somewhat true in the context of recent elections, it is misleading when compared to historical data.

Former president Dwight D Eisenhower achieved over 39 percent of the Black vote in 1956, according to PolitiFact. After the 2024 election, many noted Trump's performance as the best since Ford in 1976, but it did not approach Eisenhower's support.

Moreover, Trump's increase in support from Black voters did not reach the 40 percent mark. The VoteCast showed that while he garnered more support from Black men, particularly under 45 years of age, the total Black vote for Trump in 2024 remained closer to 16 percent.

So despite Trump's claim of receiving "almost 40 percent" of the Black vote in 2024, available polling data from multiple sources does not support this figure.

Trump's actual support from Black voters in the 2024 election is estimated at approximately 16 percent, which represents a significant but far more modest increase compared to previous Republican candidates.