Republicans are saying that Donald Trump has not adequately addressed the issues important to black voters, according to The New York Times.
"He's alienated a number of minority voters, and that's reflected in his low numbers," said Tara Wall, a communications consultant who helped with black outreach for both George W. Bush and for Mitt Romney's campaigns.
Trump has held no events aimed at black voters in their communities, such as historically black colleges or African-American churches and he has turned down invitations from black leaders and ignored African-American conservatives, reports the Times.
Republicans are concerned that low support from black voters reduces the amount of white voters that Democrats need to win the presidential election. The Times cited the examples of John McCain and Mitt Romney's presidential election results in 2008: McCain got 4 percent of black voters and Romney got 6 percent.
"Donald Trump is in a race to the bottom. He will likely have to get more than 65 percent of the white vote to win," Republican pollster Whit Ayres said.
Trump's advisers see the need for him to increase his outreach to black voters. The GOP nominee's director of outreach to African-Americans Omarosa Manigault is looking toward having him speak to "key partners in the African-American community," including church groups and civil rights groups.
"We have to make an effort. It's unacceptable to say, 'Oh, it's just too late, we are not going to try to do anything," Manigault said.
Democrats have pointed out Trump's apparent missteps among the African-American community, such as the time it took him to denounce former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and his recognition of a black supporter as "my African-American."
"We've never seen numbers this bad for someone at the top of the ticket," Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher said, according to the Times. "This is much deeper than simply not agreeing with Trump on the issues. This is a much deeper rejection of him."
Trump has not taken up invitations to speak to black organizations. The National Urban League invited him three times, and it took Trump's organization seven months to tell the NAACP that he could not attend the group's annual convention, reports the Times.
Trump has not reached out to prominent black Republicans, including Philadelphia pastor Joe Watkins, who told the Times, "Every cycle except for this one, the Republican presidential campaigns have reached out to me to help them."
Gregory Cheadle, the black voter who Trump referred to as "my African-American," said he is frustrated with the real estate mogul for not approaching black voters.
"He's a billionaire and so his life doesn't have to include black people," Cheadle said.
Marvin Beatty, a black casino executive in Detroit, said Trump could have focused on Detroit's growing comeback. "Would it have indicated that he has an interest across racial lines in a business attempting to serve the community and fulfill his agenda? Without question," Beatty said.
FiveThirtyEight.com reports that Trump is fourth among black voters, behind Hillary Clinton, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.