Detroit pastor set to speak at RNC explains why Black voters are shifting to Trump: 'Let's keep it real'

MILWAUKEE — The Rev. Lorenzo Sewell, who will deliver a speech to Republicans at the RNC on Thursday night, spoke to Fox News Digital about why Black voters are gravitating toward former President Trump despite some denials from Democrats.

"The increase is happening," Sewell said about the shift in Black voters toward Trump despite some Democrats, including Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson this week, downplaying the shift.

"When President Donald Trump came to our church last month, you could see Black people there. We know the increase is happening beyond a shadow of a doubt, because in my church, I saw with my own eyes rappers, preachers, teachers, those who aren't necessarily affiliated with the church, come and listen to President Donald Trump. So, we know it's happening."

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released last month found that support for Biden among Black voters has dropped roughly 20 percentage points in the swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania since the last election. 

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Lorenzo Sewell, pastor of 180 Church, will speak at the RNC on Thursday. (Getty Images)

Fox News polling showed that Biden led Trump by 64 points with Black voters in July 2020. Today, Biden's lead has shrunk to 42.

When asked by Fox News Digital what makes Trump different from previous GOP presidential candidates who couldn’t resonate with Black voters, Sewell said, "He’s not a typical politician."

"He was willing to come to a community that most Republicans would not come to. President Donald Trump, I think him being a New Yorker, I think it serves him well, right? Him having that cultural awareness and cultural intelligence, where in cities like mine, Detroit, where it's so polarizing in terms of the Black and white vote."

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

"He's willing to jump in and willing to get his hands dirty, and he's willing to have a plan, right? When you look at the Platinum Plan and you look at [what] President Donald J. Trump did regarding that plan in terms of making sure that Black entrepreneurs had resources, Black churches got resources," Sewell continued. "That's why I believe he resonates, and if we were to be honest, back in the day, everyone wanted to be Donald Trump, right? Let's keep it real, right? So, I believe that's some of the reasons why he resonates."

Sewell, who grew up amid drugs and gang violence in a home where his father went to prison and brother was murdered, told Fox News Digital that he attended the RNC to speak up for "forgotten" people in Michigan that are "disenfranchised" and "marginalized" and explained that he hopes Black voters watch the RNC and look up information about the Republican Party.

Attendees hold their hats on day 3 of the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 17, 2024. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly)

"I would just Google the Republican Party. Look at 170 years ago how patriots stood up to stop slavery," Sewell said. "I would just Google Black Republicans, and I would look at some of the greatest leaders in our culture, in our context, people like Thomas Sowell and others that were willing to stand up, even patriots during post-Reconstruction where Black Americans were Republican.

"When you think about Frederick Douglass and how he advised Abraham Lincoln, that's what I would do. I would take the time to do a quick five-minute Google search about Black Republicans and see that Black people have always been Republicans. It's the Democrats that have these identity politics and try to confuse Black America into thinking that Black people don't vote Republican. We always have, and Donald Trump, he's bringing the Black vote back again."

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..