Black barbershop owner in Atlanta says sales have dropped since Trump event

A Black barbershop owner in Atlanta said Friday he lost his job after being tricked into hosting a campaign event for former President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, the day before Trump took to the CNN stage in Atlanta to debate President Joe Biden, representatives for the former president hosted an event called the “Black American Business Leaders Barbershop Roundtable” at Rocky's Barbershop, which also included a surprise call from Trump himself.

According to local news outlet 11 Alive, the number of customers visiting Rocky's Barbershop has decreased since the campaign event.

“I got some calls on Thursday. I definitely got some calls and I definitely got some backlash. I got some angry people who don't even know me and I have to deal with that,” store owner Rocky Jones said in a story published Friday.

Jones said he was “not involved in politics at all,” adding that he assumed the event was intended as a forum for Black-owned small businesses.

“I thought this was going to be a really private issue,” he said. “I was thinking about Black businesses in Atlanta, small Black businesses in Atlanta. And I was like, 'Okay, when do we start having conversations about this?'”

Jones was shocked when Trump called the event: “I thought, why would a former president call my barbershop? This has nothing to do with black small business,” he said.

Jones, meanwhile, told another local outlet, Atlanta News First, that he felt “betrayed” by the outcome of the event, and claimed that no one told him it was a political event when it was being planned, and that he had never spoken to a representative from the Trump campaign.

Newsweek Trump campaign spokesman Steven Chang was contacted in an email seeking comment.

Trump is working to win over black and Hispanic votes in the 2024 election campaign.

a The New York Times/The Siena College poll, conducted June 20-25 among 1,226 likely voters, found that 30% of blacks surveyed said they would vote for Trump and 59% for Biden. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The poll shows growing support for Trump among black voters. Previous surveys have shown The Washington PostIn an Ipsos poll of 1,331 non-Hispanic black adults conducted April 9-16, 66% said they would probably or definitely vote for Biden, while just 14% said they would support Trump in a hypothetical race involving a third-party candidate. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

According to CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten, Biden's support has dropped significantly among young black voters.

During a broadcast earlier this month, Enten presented polling data showing Biden's lead among black voters under 50 has fallen over the past four years, from 80 points in 2020 to 37 points in 2024.

Meanwhile, President Trump drew criticism during a debate on Thursday night when he said that many immigrants entering the U.S.-Mexico border illegally are taking “black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs” from Americans.

“The fact is that [Biden] “The big hit to black people is the millions of people we've allowed across the border. They're now taking black jobs,” Trump said. “They're taking black jobs, they're taking Hispanic jobs. You haven't seen it yet, but you're going to see the worst of it in our history.”

There is no evidence that hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are taking jobs that should go to Americans.

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele condemned Trump's comments on MSNBC on Saturday. weekend“So what exactly are the jobs that are black and Hispanic?” he asks, as he co-hosts the show.

He also criticized Trump's call to Jones's Barber Shop on Wednesday, saying, “If you want to appeal to black people, [Black] Barbershop…you're going to come to the barbershop and talk about black employment? Shut up. Why should I have to deal with this idiot's crazy talk?

Meanwhile, Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said in response to Trump's “black jobs” comment, “There are no black jobs. This false statement denies that black talent exists everywhere. We are doctors, lawyers, school teachers, police officers, firefighters. The list goes on,” according to the Associated Press.

He added, “'Black jobs' are American jobs. It is concerning when a presidential candidate tries to draw a distinction where none exists. But the divisive nature of this comment should not be a surprise to Donald Trump.”

Trump allies such as Deante Johnson, president of the Black Conservative Union, defended the former president's message, saying, “He was talking about Black jobs, and we've been using that phrase for a while. It can be any job. Instead of Black people having unlimited access to all kinds of jobs, illegal immigrants are taking their jobs,” the Associated Press reported.