For weeks, Harris has been dogged by concerns that she will underperform with men as polls show a historic gender gap in the presidential race. Much of the focus has been on black men, a traditionally Democratic voting bloc that is increasingly receptive to supporting former President Donald Trump.

But prominent surrogates for that demographic, among them Breakfast Club host Charlamagne tha God, have accused Democrats of using a double standard, asking when those same Democrats will “wave their finger” at white men and women who they argue are voting against their interests by supporting Trump.

At a rally in Norristown, Pennsylvania, this weekend, Democrats underscored that although some black men do prefer Trump over Harris, they continue to comprise the party’s second-most reliable voting base after black women.

Detrick McGriff, principal of Norristown Area High School, the host of the rally, insisted that for any man who “may have a disparaging remark” about Harris, there are “two or three more” who will honor “the women in their lives, whether it be their wives, their mothers, or their daughters.”

Paul Henderson, Harris’s former prosecution chief when she was San Francisco’s district attorney, did not attend the event, but separately scrutinized the political narrative that black men are “disengaged or apathetic” as “unfair” and “offensive.”

“The focus on the small percentage of black men who may not support Kamala Harris overlooks the broader, systemic factors at play, including disillusionment with a political system that has historically ignored their needs and concerns,” Henderson told the Washington Examiner.

Rallygoers reiterated that message of black support for Harris in interviews on Saturday night as they came to watch former first lady Michelle Obama speak in Pennsylvania.

Timothy Webb, 52, downplayed many of those considering Trump as low-propensity voters and said there is a diverse coalition ready to vote for Harris on Election Day.

“For example, I am a gay man,” said Webb, an East Norriton healthcare industry worker. “My husband is voting. I have an 8-year-old daughter. I’m concerned about women’s productive rights. I have a brother-in-law who is concerned about his wife’s healthcare. We will bring it out in the polls.”

Keith Colquitt, 67, expressed confusion and frustration as to “why anybody, especially minorities, are being fooled by Trump.”

“I do get discouraged sometimes, but then, when I come to an event like this — I went to a rally, what was it? Last week? Where President Obama was there — and the crowds, it was just, it was crazy,” said Colquitt, a Philadelphia school teacher. “I’m concerned about people, period, who are so gullible.”

Trump will likely not win minority men on Tuesday. But his appeal among the demographic on issues such as the economy may be enough to prevent Harris from becoming president, with this election poised to be decided at the margins.

Past successful Democratic presidential candidates have received about 90% support from black voters and 65% from Hispanic voters. The final New York Times-Siena College poll published Sunday found Harris has 79% support from black voters and 51% from Hispanic voters.

Harris publicly acknowledged her problems reaching out to minority men last week in a hot microphone moment with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI).

“My thing is we need to move ground among men,” Harris told Whitmer over a beer at the Trak Houz Bar and Grill in Michigan.

Those words came after delayed action, with Harris releasing agendas for black and Hispanic men last month. The policy platforms include interest-free forgivable loans for minority entrepreneurs; training and mentorship programs, including for teachers; and a national health initiative for black men.

It was hoped that former President Barack Obama would help Harris bridge the divide with black men. He and his wife have headlined a series of rallies for Harris in the campaign’s closing weeks.

But the former president’s first appearance on the campaign trail in Pittsburgh last month was marred by him telling Democratic volunteers and staffers at a party office that a lack of support for Harris could be because of sexism.

“Part of it makes me think, and I’m speaking to men directly, part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that,” Obama said.

Harris was asked about Obama’s criticism last month during an iHeartRadio audio town hall with Charlamagne tha God.

“President Obama was out there last week waving his finger at black men,” Charlamagne said. “When are Liz Cheney and Hillary Clinton going to wave their finger at white women? When are Bill Clinton and Joe Biden going to wave their finger at white men?”

“I think what is happening is that we are all working on reminding people of what is at stake, and that is very important,” Harris responded.

Harris has been careful regarding her race and gender during her campaign, perhaps learning from 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who unsuccessfully leaned on the historic nature of her candidacy as the first woman to be nominated by a major party for president.

In her 2020 campaign for president, Harris pressed President Joe Biden on busing during that primary’s opening debate. But four years later, she has almost entirely avoided highlighting race as a campaign issue. When asked about being the first black woman to be nominated for president, she emphasizes that she is not taking the minority vote for granted.

The Trump campaign and Republicans, more broadly, have tried to exploit the split the former president has created among minority men.

“Kamala Harris is sinking in the polls with black male voters,” the Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. told reporters last week. “As she pushes Barack Obama on the campaign trail to scold black voters into supporting her, she rolled out a new plan to try and buy the black male vote with 20K and the promise to legalize pot. After decades of empty promises by Democrats, black voters aren’t buying it.”

In addition to raising concerns about illegal immigration and the economy, the Trump campaign originally criticized Harris over her record as a San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general. Charlamagne tha God brought up her previous opposition to the legalization of marijuana during the town hall.

Harris encountered the same scrutiny in 2020, with Ted Johnson, a New America senior adviser, downplaying the possibility of black voters not voting for the vice president due to her past prosecutorial experience.

“A not insignificant number of black voters will prefer the descriptive representation she offers on questions of criminal justice than to punish her for parts of her record as AG,” Johnson told the Washington Examiner.