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Real question: Do influential white people routinely tell members of the white community not to vote?

Every four years, it seems, notable figures in the black community repeat a familiar refrain: Black voters should withhold their vote to prove a point.

In 2020, it was musician Ice Cube, and in 2024, it was activist Dr. Umar, both using their considerable platforms to deliver a consistent, if overused, message to people of color: Don’t vote until politicians make concrete promises . These calls for inaction are often mistaken for activism and overlook the fact that both major parties have made commitments to black voters in past and current elections.

“Have you ever noticed,” I ask in a new video, “that white conservative voters are rarely, if ever, told they should withhold their vote?”

“Did you ever notice?” @garrison_hayes asks in a new video, “that white conservative voters are rarely, if ever, told they should withhold their vote?”

His new video shows why. LOOK pic.twitter.com/OLeRwYZtzW

— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) October 29, 2024

I explain that Christian nationalists have a long history of supporting policies aimed at reducing the voting population to achieve, as my colleague Ari Berman describes, “minority rule.” Consider Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation—the recent force behind Project 2025. In 1980, during a far-right conference in Dallas, Weyrich made clear his hostility to democracy: “Our leverage in elections, enough honestly, it works. increasing as the voting population declines”. The strategy is obvious: it relies fundamentally on black voters staying home.

We’ve covered the ongoing debate about the black vote extensively this election cycle. Watch my in-depth exploration of the rise of the Black MAGA movement below.