Bernie Sanders enjoys a similar level of support among black Democratic primary voters as Joe Biden does, with 29 percent backing the Vermont senator while 31 percent are behind the former vice president, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Aggregated data from last year’s version of the national poll show that Biden’s lead over Sanders among black voters was as much as 30 percentage points, according to NBC News.
The new poll serves as a cautionary note for Biden as the Democratic primary race heads into states with more racial diversity than in Iowa and New Hampshire, where the first nominating contests were held.
Mike Bloomberg received about half as much support from black primary voters than Sanders or Biden did — while the other Democratic candidates were in single digits.
The poll of 252 registered voters was conducted Feb. 14-18. The margin of error was plus or minus 6.17 percentage points.
The margin of error for only 139 black Democratic primary respondents was a high 8.31 percentage points, which NBC News admitted made it “difficult to differentiate the true levels of support for each of the candidates.”
The survey was conducted before Bloomberg debuted on the Democratic debate stage in Las Vegas, where he was skewered by his rivals over his stop-and-frisk policy, which disproportionately targeted people of color during his tenure as New York City mayor.
The poll also found that black Democrats have reservations about Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
For Klobuchar, a combined 25 percent said they were either comfortable or enthusiastic about her candidacy, while 35 percent expressed reservations or said they uncomfortable.
And for Buttigieg, a combined 28 percent were comfortable or enthusiastic, while 41 percent had reservations or were uncomfortable.
“These are difficult numbers for Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar as regards their standing in the African-American community,” said GOP pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Peter Hart.
Bernie Sanders supporters in Denver, ColoradoAFP via Getty Images“Just weeks away from South Carolina and Super Tuesday, they simply don’t have the standing with what’s 20 percent of Democratic primary voters,” he said.
Regarding Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, more black voters said they’re enthusiastic or comfortable (46 percent) with her than those expressing discomfort (35 percent), the poll showed.
Twelve percent of black voters express discomfort with a female candidate, compared with 14 percent of all registered voters who said the same.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s approval rating among all black voters stands at just 14 percent, with 84 percent disapproving — including 69 percent who said they strongly disapprove.
In terms of the economy, 23 percent approved and 62 percent disapproved of his performance.
Among all black voters, almost eight in 10 said they were very uncomfortable with his candidacy for president in 2020.
