The Trump campaign has proposed a “race strategy” for the November election, as the president faces a barrage of criticism over the alleged lack of outreach to minority voters.
White House senior adviser Hope Hicks said in a statement Thursday that the campaign was considering an effort to reach out to Hispanics and African-Americans to boost their turnout.
The strategy could include recruiting more African-American voters to vote, she said, and recruiting more Latinos to register to vote.
“We need to do better,” she said.
“We are focused on getting this country moving again and we have a responsibility to the African- Americans and Hispanics who have been hurt by the economic and political crisis of the last decade.”
Hicks also said that a group of Hispanics is working to get volunteers to the polls on Election Day.
The effort is the latest example of Trump’s increasingly partisan approach to voter outreach and has led some GOP strategists to question his ability to connect with voters.
The president’s campaign has also sought to distance itself from Trump’s controversial comments about women, saying it was not involved in his decision to hire his former beauty pageant competitor.
In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Thursday, Hicks suggested that the president’s efforts to reach minority voters had been an attempt to shore up support among white voters.
“If you look at our polling, the vast majority of the people that are voting in this election, they are white,” she told host Joe Scarborough.
“That’s not to say they are not black, but I think they are going to be very, very disappointed if Donald Trump is not able to appeal to a majority of white voters.”
She said the campaign’s focus on getting voters to the polling station was aimed at the “voter turnout that is going to give us a chance of winning this election.”
Trump, who has a historically low approval rating among minority voters, has repeatedly denied accusations that he is a racist, saying he wants to be the leader of the nation.
He has said he will be a “winner” in November, but has faced growing pressure from Democrats to make the race more inclusive.