Black voters in Georgia reveal who they are backing for president

Voters in a majority black Georgia county are almost evenly split in their support for Joe Biden and Donald Trump for president, but some wish other surprising candidates would hop in the race. DeKalb County, a majority black county in Atlanta that broke for Biden by a whopping 67 points in 2020, is expected to be a Democrat stronghold in the upcoming 2024 election.

Ahead of the first presidential debate hosted by CNN this Thursday in Atlanta, DailyMail.com spoke exclusively with black voters from the area about which candidate they are backing and their thoughts ahead of the first political prize fight. Support for Trump and Biden was evenly split among voters interviewed, but some said they don't support either - and would support alternative options like Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.

'Well, I would say Trump, because the time that Biden has been in office [he] really hasn't done enough for us, man,' Cliff told DailyMail.com about who he will back in November. 'And I just feel like having an older president in the office, you can't keep up with the new times.' 'So it's just like [Biden] might have good intentions, but he can only do so much with his age.' Cliff said that he likes Trump because of his experience as a businessman. 'Trump is focused on business, and I actually own a business myself,' he said. 'When Trump was in [the] presidency, he was more business prone ... took more care of the businesses.'

'I feel like Biden is more cultural. He's focusing on relationships and like marriages and stuff,' he continued. 'You need that, but you also need help with businesses too, because businesses run America in the sense. So he focused on the money. That's why you got to follow the money.' But another man, Leon, a 20-year military veteran, said there is no way he could back former President Trump. 'Nothing honest about anything that comes out of his mouth. So of course, for me, I couldn't vote for him,' he said.

Leon said that he was going to support Biden come November but only because he so disliked Trump, who he has long been familiar with growing up in the north east. 'I knew who Trump was before most of these people here knew who they were from the south. Growing up in the north, he was trash then, he's still trash.' Still, he admitted that Joe is not his desired candidate. 'I wish there had been someone else that would have ran for a ticket for the Democratic side, but Biden is doing a great job,' Leon told DailyMail.com, though he did not share who he would have rather voted for.

Additionally an older black man named Richard also expressed support for Biden. 'Biden has did a pretty good job,' he said, before later adding, 'I would like to see someone else in the debate.' 'Two of them on top of my head: I say Oprah Winfrey, she would have been a good one, and Michelle [Obama], she would have been a good one. I think those two women would have been good candidates for president.' Around the block, another man, Tony, said he is not supporting either of the top candidates.

'Biden and Trump? Who am I backing? I'm not backing either. Why? I don't think either one of them have the best interest for me and people who look like me and mine,' he told DailyMail.com. When pressed he said he will indeed vote, but is eyeing some other candidates. 'I see the other names on the ballots. I see Cornell West, I see Kennedy, and I may, last minute, just throw my name in there.' 'I would definitely like to see another third party candidate,' he added. 'Who that would be, I'm not sure.'

The responses from the voters interviewed by DailyMail.com seem to align with a recent poll that found Trump is up in Georgia by five points . The survey, done by the Atlanta Constitution Journal, found that Trump had 43 percent of the vote and Biden had 38 percent. It also found support for third party candidates too. Independent Robert Kennedy Jr. received nine percent of the vote and eight percent of respondents were still undecided. It comes as the two candidates make final preparation for what could be one of the most consequential showdowns ever in presidential politics.

The poll is a setback for Biden who became the first Democrat in nearly 30 years to win the Peach State in 2020 on his way to the White House. He will need to retain support in the southern state to sail back to a second term. Trump, meanwhile, is looking to shore up support in the typically red state, which he lost by roughly 12,000 votes in the last election. 'I do not feel passionate about either one of them,' Ajmal said of Biden and Trump. He claimed neither of their policies align with his centrist views, saying 'Their decisions and their political stances on many different things, whether it be abortion rights, war, just to absurd conservatism and just being way too liberal and laid back,' are not palatable.

'Maybe I'm more independent, and that's what I would probably vote for,' he added before mentioning how he will could likely find himself voting for Kennedy. 'I would like to see the Independent Party grow,' Ajmal said. 'I want to see more Americans start to think independently and support those candidates.' Joel told DailyMail.com he is voting for Trump after not seeing enough happening with Biden.

'I'll go Trump because it's too much things that's going on, like the war in Ukraine. And ... the wall and we letting everybody else in this country. We are not working and everybody is working with us. Basically, Trump is just doing more beneficial things, I think, for the people.' 'Trump don't play,' he continued. 'He's a straight up person, you know, maybe he said a lot of stuff, a lot of crazy stuff, but I think he would be the better president.' 'We need somebody that's going to make a change for us,' Joel added. 'We need to stop worrying about everybody else and start worrying about what's going on here in this country.'

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