June 6 (UPI) -- Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is hoping to turn President Joe Biden's diminishing Black support into a victory for Donald Trump.
The Scott-affiliated Great Opportunity PAC on Thursday said it would spend at least $14.3 million on Black voter outreach in battleground states to bring them into Trump's tent.
While Black Americans have been a reliable Democratic voting bloc, Scott pointed to a recent Wall Street Journal poll that showed President Joe Biden is losing support from this demographic.
"There's a lot of reasons why the shift is now becoming so blatantly obvious that it is now undeniable that there is something amiss. It's real," Scott told reporters Wednesday. "It's not just racial, but it's going to manifest itself in a racial shift that we haven't seen in probably three decades of politics."
Additionally, a March CBS News poll showed Black support for Trump nearly doubled from 12% in 2020 to 23% in 2024.
Another poll conducted by the University of Chicago found 33% of young Black people said they would vote for Biden, and 23% said they would vote for Trump, if the election was held today.
The response is a stark contrast for Biden, who won over 80% of young Black voters in 2020.
Scott said he sees a shift, particularly in the attitudes of Black, working-class men toward the Republican Party.
The South Carolina senator -- who failed to capitalize on this during his own presidential bid -- said he hopes to deliver the crucial voting bloc to Trump in November.
His announcement also comes as his name is on the short list to be Trump's vice president pick. Trump is expected to announce his running mate by the Republican National Convention next month in Milwaukee.
Great Opportunity PAC organizers said they have $7 million on hand to put toward the initiative but plan to double that heading into the fall.
The money would be spent on direct outreach to Black Americans and other voters of color, as well as advertising and digital marketing, and research and analytics.
Scott said he doesn't expect to drive a huge Black exodus from the Democratic party, but he envisions the effort will be just enough to chip away at Biden's already diminishing level of Black support to give Trump a victory.
"If the Black voters do two things, some stay home and some come to the right, there is no way to fill that hole," he said. "So the coalition that is necessary for the Democrats to have success, period, it's not just Black and Hispanic. It's specifically Black in the battleground states where they have to be successful."
Some Republicans, however, are skeptical that Scott can deliver on his promise.
Shermichael Singleton, a Republican strategist who served on the presidential campaigns of Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Ben Carson said appeals to Black voters have to be backed by substance and prolonged and continued engagement throughout the election."
"The aims here are great, but the lack of details gives me pause," he said.
Democrats are aware of their precarious position among the coalition that won Biden the White House in 2020.
As he campaigns, Biden has been honing his Black outreach at events in Atlanta, Detroit and Philadelphia.
He also spoke at the NAACP's annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner in Michigan, where he told the crowd that staying in the White House come November hinges on their support.
"Because of your vote, it's the only reason I'm standing here as president of the United States of America, period," he said. "Again, that's not a joke. That's a fact. You're the reason Kamala Harris is a historic vice president. You're the reason Donald Trump is the defeated former president. And you're the reason Donald Trump is going to be a loser again."
The Biden campaign also has tried to hold on to support from Blacks and other people of color through a series of ads attacking Trump for his record with racial minorities and the racially disparaging remarks he's made in the past.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, recently unveiled its first field office of the 2024 cycle in North Philadelphia. And Trump surrogates Reps. Byron Donalds and Wesley Hunt headlined Black voter outreach events across Pennsylvania, including an event titled "Congress, Cognac & Cigars."
The Biden campaign slammed Trump for his reliance on surrogates for his minority outreach.
"President Biden is on the campaign trail showing up -- himself -- to earn, and not ask for, Black Americans' support. That is what leadership looks like," Sarafina Chitika, a senior Biden campaign spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News.
