Associated Press
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, had a testy exchange with a prominent black radio personality on Friday over Biden’s support among black voters and his choosing of a running mate.
Charlamagne Tha God pressed Biden on reports that he is considering Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is white, to be vice president and told him black voters “saved your political life in the primaries” and “have things they want from you.”
“I’m not acknowledging anybody who is being considered,” Biden said. “But I guarantee you there are multiple black women being considered. Multiple.”
A Biden aide then sought to end the interview, prompting the host to say, “You can’t do that to black media.”
Biden responded, “I do that to black media and white media” and said his wife needed to use the television studio.
He then added: “If you’ve got a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or for Trump, then you ain’t black.”
The host countered that conversations about Biden’s running mate aren’t about President Donald Trump, whom many black voters view as racist.
“Take a look at my record,” Biden said, citing his work as senator to extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965. “The NAACP has endorsed me every time I’ve run. Come on, take a look at my record.”
Biden has emphasized his relationship with black voters, noting throughout the campaign his dependence on black voters in his Delaware Senate races and his partnership as President Barack Obama’s top lieutenant.
Black voters helped resurrect Biden’s campaign in this year’s primaries with a second place finish in the Nevada caucuses and a resounding win in the South Carolina primary after he’d started with embarrassing finishes in overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire.
Older black voters especially sided with Biden over a wide Democratic field that included several black candidates, including Kamala Harris. The California senator is believed to be a contender for the vice-presidential nomination. Other prominent black women mentioned include Georgia voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Orlando Rep. Val Demings, Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, and Susan Rice, Obama’s former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to Biden, said his parting comment in Friday’s interview was “made in jest.”
“Let’s be clear about what the VP was saying,” Sanders tweeted. “He was making the distinction that he would put his record with the African American community up against Trump’s any day. Period.”
Trump’s campaign seized on Biden’s comments on Friday.
“He truly believes that he, a 77-year-old white man, should dictate how Black people should behave,” said Katrina Pierson, a senior advisor to Trump’s campaign.
The president has a history of incendiary rhetoric related to race.
When he launched his presidential campaign in 2015, Trump called many Mexican immigrants “rapists.” In 2017, he said there good people on “both sides” of the clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacists and anti-racist demonstrators that left one counter-protester dead.
Last year, during a private White House meeting on immigration, Trump wondered why the United States was admitting so many immigrants from “shithole countries” like African nations. He also blasted four Democratic congresswomen of color, saying they hate America and should “go back” to where they come from, even though all are U.S. citizens and three were born in the U.S.
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Republished with permission from The Associated Press.
6 comments
Reb
May 22, 2020 at 2:22 pm
No, I am White and proud of it. Blacks should not vote for Biden, he will not do anything for them, except make them dependent of Government handouts. Trump 2020
Tjb
May 23, 2020 at 12:09 pm
What has trump done for the black communities?
SayNoToBiden
May 22, 2020 at 2:58 pm
biden just showed how racist he actually is. His mental state is such, that he is now coming out with his true feelings about African American voters. If they don’t agree with every Democrat lie, they are not worth while.
This is what the Democrat Party does, to those who are loyal to them over the years. Pres. Trump did more for blacks in his first two years, than Obama did in eight years.
It is time for the African Americans to stand up and say no more…we have been used and abuse for too long.
Cogent Observer
May 22, 2020 at 3:03 pm
“Charlamagne Tha God”? For real? That’s a human’s name? It’s a joke, isn’t it?
And Joe–you’re not up to this task–physically or intellectually.
There are objectionable things about Pres. Trump, but at the least, he’ll survive for four years. There is something to recommend “the devil one knows.”
“Charlamagne Tha God”? You must be kidding.
Ron
May 22, 2020 at 5:45 pm
If you asked Charlie there who Charles Martel was, he would not know. If you asked Biden what he meant by calling Obama “clean,” he couldn’t answer. Ir you ask black Americans what it means to be pandered to by old white men who want to categorize them as either black or otherwise, they just might tell you about old white men who once categorized them as “2/3 human.” Biden is the throwback candidate in this election, and “we will not go backwards.”
Herb
May 22, 2020 at 6:11 pm
Unless, of course, this is a ploy. Perhaps Biden is being used, complicitly or not, as a straw man. He goes to the Convention outwardly strong, only to cede the nomination to Barack or Hillary. Hell, he can’t even get other leftists enthusiastic. Of course, there’s not much to be enthusiastic about. America gets screw** any way it goes.
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