The Trump administration and its failed response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been devastating to Black Americans. Fewer than half of all Black adults now have a job, Black small business ownership has cratered, and Black Americans are more than twice as likely to die due to complications of the disease. These economic and health disparities in the Black community have been exacerbated through his callous obsession to end the Affordable Care Act and insistence to funnel economic benefits to the richest Americans through his disastrous tax law.
“We knew we couldn’t expect much from a Trump presidency, but the harm caused by his failed response to this pandemic has been much deeper and widespread than any of us could have imagined,” said DNC Black Caucus Chair, Virgie M. Rollins. “Donald Trump inherited a thriving economy and a historic drop in Black unemployment from President Obama but has managed to run those tremendous gains into the ground. We have learned the hard way what we have to lose if Trump is reelected and we must do everything in our power to make sure that is not the case.”
Black unemployment fell less than 2% in Trump’s first three years after declining by over 9% under the Obama-Biden administration from its recession peak. Today, the Black unemployment rate has ballooned to nearly 17%.
- 3.3 million Black Americans were unemployed in May.
- 48% of Black Americans reported trouble with paying bills, the most of any ethnic group.
The number of Black business owners has dropped precipitously and have struggled to secure PPP loans from the Trump administration.
- The number of Black business owners plummeted from 1.1 million in February 2020 to 640,000 in April.
- The Center for Responsible Lending estimated that up to 95% of Black firms remained ineligible to receive PPP funding.
Black people have disproportionately suffered from the pandemic from exacerbated health disparities.
- Nationwide, about 30 percent of Covid-19 patients are Black, even though Black people only make up 13% of the overall population.
- Adjusting for age, the death rate for Black Americans is nearly 4 times that of White Americans.
Nearly one in three Black adults (31%) say they know someone personally who has died as a result of having Covid-19, more than three times the amount who said this among white adults (9%). (Source: Democratic National Committee)