A bipartisan panel of voters addressed key issues motivating them to cast their ballot in the 2024 election cycle - among them crime and artificial intelligence, but one controversial topic ignited a heated exchange between panelists.
Madeline Brame, a conservative voter whose veteran son was murdered in New York City in 2018, addressed why she thinks a majority of Black voters cast their ballots for Democrats despite claims that Republicans resonate with Black voters more on conservative values.
"I think because we have been bamboozled, we've been hoodwinked, and we've been led astray to believe that… conservative or Republican[s] or are racist… when in all actuality, they stand more in line with our values than the Democrats do, but we vote for them because that's what we've been conditioned to do," Brame told ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ co-host Will Cain on Sunday.
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Dr. Jeanine Downie, a Democrat voter, was quick to call her out, disagreeing with her claims that conservatives resonate more with the Black community.
"First of all, this is a Spike Lee quote," Dr. Downie shot back. "So I just want to give credit where credit is due to what Madeline just said about bamboozled and hoodwinked. But no, as a liberal Democrat who's a physician, who's a Catholic, there are so many things. Let's talk about the over, what is it, 15,000 gun deaths this year, with over 200 mass shootings already?"
"We need to put more in place to decrease those mass shootings. That's one of many reasons I'm riding with Biden. 696,000 more manufacturing jobs. Not everybody can be a doctor, Will," she continued. "So I'm really thrilled with that."
Dr. Downie added that Black voters have not been "hoodwinked" into supporting Democrats.
"I don't think we've been hoodwinked," she said. "When I go back to my values being raised as a Catholic, I don't want 25% of all women dying due to pregnancy complications if there's a national abortion ban. There's just some things I can't have. So I look at the whole picture."
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Brame quickly interjected, calling out abortion as the "complete genocide" targeting unborn Black children.
"Why would anybody in their right mind… continue to fight and support abortion, a fight to support the complete genocide of the Black baby in the womb through abortion, because Black women are the ones that have the most abortions in this country?" Brame asked. "Why are we standing up and fighting for that?"
"We're only 13% of the population," Dr. Downie immediately objected. "That is not true. There are more White women than Black women that have abortions in this country... and it's a woman's right to choose."
"Biden's policies are not the cure for Black America," New York GOP Executive Vice Chairman John Burnett, another panelist, interjected.
While the president maintains Black voter support, it has sharply declined since taking office and comes with much less enthusiasm. According to the Associated Press, around 58 percent approve of his job handling.
Just 41 percent of Black adults said they wanted Biden to run for a second term, while only 55 percent said they would likely support him in the general election.
These figures starkly contrast with his first few months in office, when 9 out of 10 Black voters approved of the job he was doing.
They also fall well below Democrats' overall sentiment, which showed that 81 percent would "definitely" or "probably" support Biden if he were the nominee.
Fox News' Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report.
