The Trump campaign worked behind the scenes to deter more than 3.5m Black Americans from voting to secure his victory in 2016, a has revealed.
According to a 2016 campaign database obtained by the British news organisation, personal information of millions of US citizens was compiled - and then harvested to target groups of voters in key battleground states.
The database shows voters were separated into categories based on how likely they were to cast a ballot for Trump or Clinton.
Swing voters were categorized into groups labelled as “persuasion” or “deterrence” - the latter of which comprised disproportionately of African American voters.
The Trump campaign has responded to a , calling it "fake news" and stating that Trump "has built a relationship of trust with African American voters" by creating new opportunities and implementing criminal justice reform.
Personal information breached
With millions of African Americans mobilising to protest, against racism and police brutality in recent months. Milwaukee could be key to determining whether Trump or Biden win the swing state of Wisconsin in the upcoming election.
Milwaukee residents Bridget and Tamara Smith are surprised to see their names on the 2016 database used by Trump’s digital campaign team.
“That's very wrong. You're pre-judging people. I'm very upset about it because you're categorising me, and you're saying who I am in your eyes,” Tamara said.
“And I'm really no one - because you're saying I can't make up my own mind.”
The shows evidence that in 2016 American voters were also sorted into categories based on psychological analyses provided by Cambridge Analytica, using terms such as “Closed”, “Individualist,” “Thinker” and “Adventurer” to narrow down political messaging most effective in reaching them.
'Strategic disenfranchisement'
According to News, the Trump digital campaign targeted the "deterrence" voters with Facebook ads attacking Clinton, including a video that resurfaced her past "super predator" comments.
This tactic of "microtargeting" is legal, and is used by other campaigns, political strategy firms and interest groups.
Political analysts say a key factor in Clinton’s 2016 election defeat was that she did not energize enough Black, Latino and younger voters to show up to the polls - and .
Democratic state Senator for Milwaukee Lena Taylor says the Trump campaign’s ‘deterrence’ project “strategically disenfranchised” communities in her state.
“So they specifically looked at those individuals and said, we are going to do everything to try to deter them and create ads that would do that. That is a strategic level that by no means did I know was existing.
“That is mind-boggling. What it should tell people is the power right of their vote. “
Brad Parscale, Trump’s digital director in 2016, has said in previous interviews the campaign was not directly responsible for racially biased targeting of ads.
“I would say I'm nearly 100 per cent sure we did not run any campaigns that targeted even African-Americans,” he said.
Facebook won’t reveal whether messages were targeted at Black voters in 2016 on their platform, or how many campaign ads were hosted.
Persuasive tactics
In Kenosha, less than a hundred kilometres from Milwaukee, large protests erupted in August after the police shooting of 21-year-old African American man James Blake.
The town has since become a political battleground ahead of the 2020 elections.
While Trump’s visit to Kenosha was marked as non-political, locals noted it resembled a campaign stop - with protest signs, MAGA gear and glimpses of various anti-government and white nationalist symbols.
In one of the town’s white middle class suburbs, one third of the voters were classified for “persuasion” by the 2016 campaign, and are being targeted again - with messages of division and fear.
Local Darin Chansky says the social upheaval in his city has made him more likely to vote for President Trump.
“I did feel the need to have my security arm and my weapon loaded on my nightstand for the first time,” he said.
“It continues to solidify my support for Trump… He supports Law Enforcement."
