Charlamagne Tells Former Biden Campaign Adviser She’s Wrong Not To Give Trump Voters Time Of Day

Radio host Charlamagne Tha God told former Biden 2020 campaign senior adviser Alencia Johnson during a Wednesday interview that she was wrong to avoid speaking with President Donald Trump’s voters.

Former President Joe Biden called Trump supporters “garbage” in October, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in September 2016 that 50% of them belong in what she referred to as “the basket of deplorables.” When Johnson said on “The Breakfast Club” that she does not feel it is necessary to speak to Trump voters, Charlamagne told her it was because of the importance of comprehending their motivations.

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“Some of my journalist friends and I get into this disagreement, I don’t really talk to people who voted for Donald Trump. Like, that’s not — I don’t need to talk to them,” Johnson said. “Because if we look at the last election, 90 million eligible voters did not vote. That’s a whole lot of people that we can reach to understand that they actually have power to change the system.”

Charlamagne disagreed.

“I think you should talk to people who voted for Trump. And the reason I think you should is because then you’ll understand the why. And I think that’s where Democrats just simply failed,” he said. “They didn’t know. They couldn’t understand the why. And it’s like, ‘Oh, you — how could you vote for [Trump]?’ Did you actually have a conversation with them to see how? Because a lot of it does just have to do with a lot of policies that they just didn’t agree with.”

Johnson expressed agreement with Charlamagne and sought to clear up her position, suggesting that some Trump voters are motivated by racism while others may have valid concerns.

“Let me clarify that. There are a lot of people with privilege and understanding exactly why they voted for Donald Trump, which is centered around race, that I do not like to engage with,” she said. “But to your point, if I think about where I grew up, if I think about people who I may not talk to anymore, but high school, college, whatever it may be, they probably did vote for Donald Trump, for whatever reason it may be.”

“And so, what is the conversation? Is it the economy? But then continue to ask all those questions: Is it because you believe this trope that other people are taking your jobs?” Johnson continued. “But the reality is, it’s these billionaires not paying you a fair wage. Like, what is it? I think it is important … And thank you for clarifying that so I could expound upon that, because I don’t want to go viral and it’s like, ‘She don’t talk to the people, and she don’t know … about Trump voters.’”

Trump voters have identified various reasons for backing the president in 2024.

For instance, a Connecticut mother explained on “2WAY Tonight” in February why she voted for Trump after casting ballots for independent candidates in 2016 and 2020. She cited the treatment of children and parents under Biden’s administration as the main motivator, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There’s a lot of reasons, but I would say the biggest reason was what was done to my children during the Biden years regarding masks and vaccines and coming after parents,” she said. “A lot of what was going on in the schools. And I basically wanted a return to the late ’90s … and Trump, to me, seems like a return to the late ’90s. I want inappropriate jokes. I want fun.”