President Biden makes move in hopes of solidifying support from Congressional Black Caucus

NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) -- President Biden spoke with members of the Congressional Black Caucus Monday night, as he seeks to solidify support while facing pressure from some within his party to step aside.

A person on that call told ABC News the President reportedly told members: "I need you - I'm not going to disappoint you, I promise you."

"The most important demographic for the Democratic Party writ large has been African-American women for as long as anybody can remember. Second to them is African-American men," said Dr. Kimberly Hardy, Second Vice-Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party.

About 20% of registered voters in North Carolina are Black, a figure higher than the national average.

"We're talking to our own communities. It really starts with having those conversations with your families, during these family events, during these cookouts, if you're at the barbershop, the beauty salon. We really are taking those conversations to where people are," said Senator Natalie Murdock, who represents Durham and Chatham counties and is working as the Biden Campaign Political and Coalitions Director.

Murdock highlighted recent trips by Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison to the eastern part of the state and a visit by Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff to Durham as part of a Juneteenth celebration amongst broader efforts to connect with voters.

"We have a full-time staff member who is focused on this Black voter engagement, and we're also making data-informed decisions. We're going where we know we have a lot of Black voters, so that not only includes our urban areas but people forget a lot of rural voters also are Black voters as well," said Murdock.

Monday, First Lady Jill Biden spoke in Wilmington, part of a three-state, one-day tour to highlight issues impacting veterans.

"On health care, unemployment, the housing crisis and Social Security and just anything that connects to the American people, Joe Biden is there for the American people," said Sonya Patrick, a Biden supporter who lives in New Hanover County.

Questions about Biden's electability have increased stemming from last month's debate, though supporters have downplayed the importance of his performance.

"It's not (about) debates and all this sort of stuff. It's what's happening on the ground," said Dr. Hardy.

She pointed to issues ranging from lower insulin rates to infrastructure improvements as topics of discussion, highlighting the President and EPA Administrator Michael Regan's visit to Wilmington in May.

"One of the things they talked about was replacing the lead pipes to make sure that we have clean water," said Hardy.

Marcus Bass, Deputy Director of NC Black Alliance, said he'd like the conversation to be focused more on issues.

"We can't win in America if we're talking about the individual popularity aspects of either candidate around age or favorability, that is far removed from the issues that folks are talking about in communities where we're knocking on doors when we're holding events when we're doing the things that we need to be doing to get the individuals and communities ready to go vote," said Bass, who used response efforts to natural disasters like Hurricane Beryl as an example of a topic which deserves greater attention.

A report released in May from Pew Research Center showed Biden had a 59-point edge amongst Black voters, a figure smaller than his 2020 showing. Further, it showed a generational divide, with Black voters 50 and older preferring him by 75%, a figure which dropped to 39% amongst Black voters younger than 50.

"It's important to recognize in North Carolina and across the country, the Black community is not a monolith. I think there are a lot of different nuances around the issues that relate to a younger base of voters, that relate to some of our traditional core voters," said Bass.

Black voter turnout in North Carolina increased in 2020, though still trailed turnout amongst white voters.

"This election is about the margins. It's about those people that didn't turn out in 2020. It's about those people that didn't turn out in 2016. It's about making sure that we're speaking to those voters," said Bass.

Democrats have invested significantly in North Carolina as they look to carry the state for the first time since 2008. The Biden campaign, which has opened 18 offices statewide thus far, has plans to engage with paid organizers on college campuses, including HBCUs.

"Student loan debt, a lot of folks forget that African-American women are highly educated. They're one of the demographics that have really benefited from that student loan debt cancellation," Murdock said.

ABC11 reached out to the campaigns of Rep. Don Davis, Rep. Valerie Foushee, and Rep. Alma Adams to discuss Monday's call with the President and the importance of Black voters on his re-election campaign.

At this time, only Rep. Adams has responded. In a statement, she wrote:

"Black voters overall will be important to the election, and African-American women, particularly.

As for President Biden, he has been an extraordinary president who has demonstrated that he genuinely cares about our country and its people. He has an historic record and I will continue to stand with him as our nominee because he is the best candidate to be in this race."