CNN commentator Sharmiel Singleton pushed back against the network's hosts on Tuesday about whether former President Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention could sway more black male voters to support Vice President Kamala Harris.

Obama is scheduled to address Democratic delegates and supporters on Tuesday night as the Democratic National Convention enters its second day in Chicago. Singleton said a “decline” in the “economic power” of black male voters is hurting support for the Democratic Party, and acknowledged that Democrats might “presume” that having Obama on stage would help them attract more black male voters. (Related: “Is this an Obama moment?”: GOP strategist says it's “hard” to beat Harris unless race is a “policy issue.”)

“The Democratic Party has decided to have its first African-American male [who was] The president, right? A lot of black men look up to the former president. A lot of people were excited when he first ran for president. I remember when I was in college [at] “That was true at the time,” Singleton said, “but black men have seen their economic power decline in many ways.”

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“Black men don't graduate from college at the same rate as black women. Men generally don't graduate from college and in many ways don't have the same economic advantages as women. So I think that's part of why we've seen more men appealing to Republicans more broadly since the end of President Obama's term,” Singleton said.

Singleton went on to say that data from the past year shows that “young college students are beginning to move in a more conservative direction,” concluding that this trend is “gradually taking shape.”

Harris and former President Donald Trump are polling neck and neck nationally and among key voters as Democrats struggle to maintain their support among young people, Hispanics and black voters. Harris has received more support from black voters than President Joe Biden did before he gave up reelection in July, but that's still not as strong as Obama's support in 2012.

Exit polls In the 2012 presidential election, Obama won 93% of the black vote in his race against Republican candidate Mitt Romney. But a recent CBS News/YouGov poll conducted Aug. 14-16 found that only 79% of black voters surveyed planned to support Harris in the November election.

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