Fox News host Bill O’Reilly is concerned that Donald Trump isn’t doing a good job reaching out to a key constituency: “ill-educated” black people with face tattoos.
On Monday night’s O’Reilly Factor, Trump responded to a question about his support among minority voters by saying, “If you look at President Obama, he’s been a president for almost eight years, it will be eight years you have with black youth, with African American youth, you have a 59% unemployment."
The conservative pundit responded to Trump by saying, “How are you going to get jobs for them? Many of them are ill-educated and have tattoos on their foreheads, and I hate to be generalized about it, but it's true. If you look at all the educational statistics, how are you going to get jobs for people who aren't qualified for jobs?”
O’Reilly seems to have forgotten the numerous times that Trump has celebrated his high levels of support among the poorly educated. But what about the poorly educated who are also black and have face tattoos? Is this really a sleeper demographic Trump has to worry about?
Fear not, Bill.
According to a 2012 survey from The Harris Poll, an online polling outfit owned by the Nielsen Company, black people and white people get tattoos at roughly the same rate, with 20% of white adults having at least one tattoo as compared to 21% of black adults. A more recent 2015 survey from the same company found that tattoo rates are similarly even across party lines, with 29% of Democrats having at least one tattoo compared to 28% of Independents and 27% of Republicans.
Harris does not poll specifically on the education levels of the tattooed community nor do they poll on the popularity of face tattoos in particular. But as 2012 Mitt Romney supporter Eric Hartsburg famously demonstrated, it's possible have a little face ink and support a GOP candidate.
And Trump may even have an edge in the tattooed community. As O’Reilly’s own Fox News reported back in February, there are places that will give you a Donald Trump tattoo for FREE.
In other words, O’Reilly is worried about Trump’s chances in the general election, he may have to look beyond just “ill-educated” African-Americans with “tattoos on their foreheads.”