Hillary Clinton surrogate Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D., Mo.) told MSNBC’s Kate Snow on Thursday that a lack of enthusiasm among millennial voters is an issue for the Clinton campaign.
"I will concede that there is a lack of excitement at the level that we need to defeat Donald Trump among many of the millennials," Cleaver said.
Snow started off by asking about a New York Times article that said that young African American voters are skeptical about Hillary Clinton. The story said, in part:
Yet with just over two months until Election Day, many Democrats are expressing alarm at the lack of enthusiasm, and in some cases outright resistance, some black millennials feel toward Mrs. Clinton.
Their skepticism is rooted in a deep discomfort with the political establishment that they believe the 68-year-old former first lady and secretary of state represents. They share a lingering mistrust of Mrs. Clinton and her husband over criminal justice issues. They are demanding more from politicians as part of a new, confrontational wave of black activism that has arisen in response to police killings of unarmed African-Americans.
"First, would you concede that’s an issue you’re having in the campaign?" Snow asked. "And two, how do you fix it?"
Cleaver said the lack of enthusiasm is a problem that they are facing, but he emphasized that these millennials are not going to go out and vote for Donald Trump instead.
They are just saying they are not enthusiastic about Clinton, he said.
"It’s an issue that we’re facing," Cleaver said. "But, you know, when people say that Donald Trump is trying to build a bridge to the African-American community, please understand it is a bridge to nowhere and it’s not going to happen. It’s not like the millennials are considering Donald Trump. They are saying we are not excited about Hillary Clinton."
He did not address how they were going to fix the problem.