Biden Regrets Saying Black Is “Not Black” If He Thinks He Will Vote Trump

Democratic candidate for the White House Joe Biden said on Friday that he regretted his “unfortunate” words after causing an uproar by telling a radio host that he was “not black” if he thought about voting for rival Donald Trump in November.

“I shouldn’t have been so flippant,” said the 77-year-old former vice president, regretting his “annoying” remarks.

“Nobody should have to vote for a party on the basis of their race, religion, origins,” said former Barack Obama’s right-hand man, journalists who attended his call to an organization promoting economic development insisted. of African Americans, the National Black Chamber of Commerce.

The scandal started from an interview given to Charlamagne Tha God, a personality who co-presents a popular New York radio program, The Breakfast Club, broadcast on Friday.

Joe Biden draws criticism for saying voters who back Trump ‘ain’t black’. Biden later apologized saying he “shouldn’t have been so cavalier”.#Campaign2020 @CBS46 pic.twitter.com/rS1q7zSkVN

— shon gables (@shongables) May 22, 2020

When Joe Biden said he had to end the interview, after about 17 minutes, the host replied, “Look, you have to come see us when you come to New York […] We have more questions To ask before the presidential election of November 3.

“Do you have more questions?” I’ll tell you, if you have a problem deciding whether you are for me or for Trump, then you are not black, “replied Joe Biden.

The Donald Trump team described the exchange as “disgusting” on Twitter, and the son of the Republican billionaire, Donald Trump Junior, said that Joe Biden had “a disgusting and dehumanizing racist mentality.”

Based on @JoeBiden's racist & dehumanizing comments today, I know he thinks he knows more about being black (despite being on the wrong side of every issue that matters to the black community throughout his whole career) than @TimScottSC, but you may want to give this a listen. https://t.co/ItVCWCNazm

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 22, 2020

Tim Scott, the only black Republican senator, responded by pointing out that “1.3 million black Americans had already voted for Trump in 2016. This morning Joe Biden told all of us that we were “not black”.

1.3 million black Americans already voted for Trump in 2016. This morning, Joe Biden told every single one of us we “ain’t black.” I’d say I’m surprised, but it’s sadly par for the course for Democrats to take the black community for granted and brow beat those that don’t agree.

— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) May 22, 2020

“I could say that I am surprised, but unfortunately that corresponds to the tendency of the democrats to think that the voices of the Blacks are gained in advance”, he continued.

An argument that could hit home with some black voters who regret that in 2016, the Democrats and Hillary Clinton thought that their votes were just “won in advance” and therefore did not campaign enough with them, lowering their participation compared to the Obama years.

Yet their mobilization will be crucial to Joe Biden to win the presidential election on November 3.

“I never considered that African-Americans were won in advance,” he also took care to emphasize in his apologies.

He insisted that he was ready at any time to compare his record on the subject with that of Donald Trump, whose remarks he recalled which had caused a scandal, as when he called African states “shit country” . He also accused him of implementing policies that harm blacks.

Donald Trump has been regularly accused of racism and of maintaining ambiguity towards white nationalists. It remains unpopular with black voters.

“Fear of Trump”

Asked about the controversy, host Charlamagne Tha God said that “blacks have invested a lot in this party [Democrat, editor’s note] and the return on investment has not been great”.

“You can’t ask me to be more afraid of Trump than to want something for mine,” he said in a statement to Mediaite.

Known for his blunders, Joe Biden is very popular with blacks, who brought him to victory in the Democratic primary by offering him an overwhelming score in South Carolina in late February, allowing him to return to the front of the race in one of the most spectacular returns in American political history.

In the same interview, the Democratic candidate denounced the management by the Trump administration of the coronavirus pandemic, which strikes blacks in several regions in a disproportionate way: “This crisis exposes to light the institutional racism which still prevails in our country. society “.

The presenter noted on the other hand that some urged him to choose a black candidate for the vice-presidency since “the Blacks saved your political life in the primary” Democrat.

Joe Biden replied that he was thinking of “many black women”. In the forecasts include the senator and former presidential candidate Kamala Harris, the former candidate for governor of Georgia Stacey Abrams or the elected representative of the House of Representatives Val Demings.