In a radio interview, US democrat Biden questioned the identity of black Trump voters. He backs off after violent backlashes – but the Republicans are already using the statement for themselves.
Joe Biden’s interview on the popular black television show “The Breakfast Club” could have brought him forward in a US electoral campaign with a key group of voters – but his appearance may have done the opposite.
Towards the end of the New York radio broadcast, which was released as a video recording, presenter Charlamagne Tha God asked him about reports that Biden chose Senator Amy Klobuchar as “running mate” for the presidential election – but many voters wanted a black one Woman for the job, since black voters would have saved his political survival in the primaries.
“I guarantee you: several black women are already being considered,” replied Biden. He added: “If you’re having trouble figuring out whether you’re for Trump or for me, you’re not black!” He looked directly into the camera and subsequently tried to establish a jovial conversation tone between him and Charlamagne Tha God – but obviously without success.
“I shouldn’t have been such a smart guy”
Large sections of the American public reacted indignantly. The hashtag “YouAintBlack” was trending on Twitter – “You are not black”. The efforts of a consultant Bidens to intercept the statement as “joking” were hardly heard.
In a conference call with the US Black Chamber of Commerce, Biden indicated that he regretted what he said: “The bottom line was that I was perhaps too wet-minded. I know the statements came across as if I took the African-American vote for granted watch – but that’s not the case at all. I never did – I earned it with every candidacy, “quotes the CNN broadcaster.
He knew that he could never believe the voices for sure: “I shouldn’t have been such a smart guy, not so wet-headed.”
Trump’s campaign team exploits the misstep
For the Republicans, who are fighting for a further term of office for US President Donald Trumps, Biden’s misstep is an opportunity to turn him against the racism allegations against his own ranks: Trump’s campaign team said Biden obviously believes that blacks are “incapable of being white” “to be independent or to think independently”. Campaign advisor Katrina Pierson called Biden an “elite white liberal” who made “racially degrading” statements.
President Trump himself, who likes to riot about his opponents on Twitter, has so far not spoken. However, his son Donald Trump Junion accused Biden of a “disgusting and dehumanizing, racist mentality”.
Senator Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the House of Representatives, called Biden’s statements “the most condescending and arrogant comment on the black community I’ve ever heard.” In the 2016 presidential election, 1.3 million African-Americans voted for Trump – Scott called to them: “This afternoon Joe Biden told each of you that you are not black!” He couldn’t believe that Biden would sink so low to tell people “what to do, how to think, and what it means to be black.”
Discussion of black identity not Biden’s thing
After Biden’s appearance, the moderator Charlamagne Tha God confirmed to CNN that it was necessary to make a black woman a candidate for the vice presidency. Incidentally, the question “what makes someone black”, a discussion that should be reserved for black people, is “not a white man.”
It was mainly thanks to black voters that Biden landed on the road to victory in the primaries after weak first results in the largely white-populated states of Iowa and New Hampshire. His election success on November 3 depends largely on whether African-American voters vote for him – or vote at all.
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