Charlamagne tha God rebukes Joe Biden after ‘you ain’t black’ interview
Charlamagne tha God ripped Joe Biden as part of the institutional-racism problem after the ex-veep suggested that politically undecided African Americans “ain’t black.”
“He really was one of the people on the front lines when it came to the war on drugs, and mass incarceration. If he wants to be president, he needs to fix that,” the radio host told CNN Friday evening.
On Charlamagne’s “The Breakfast Club” show earlier that day, Biden said, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
Charlamagne, an African American influencer with 2.1 million Twitter followers who has conducted tough interviews with Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, was less than thrilled with the candidate’s performance.
“My overall takeaway from the conversation is that I heard him talk about things he did for black people back in the day but what have you done for me lately is my motto. I see black communities catching hell no matter who is in the White House,” he said.
Biden, 77, the presumed 2020 Democratic candidate, moved swiftly to try to contain the damage, issuing an apology during a call with black business leaders just hours after the radio interview,
“I should not have been so cavalier. I’ve never, never, ever taken the African American community for granted,” Biden said. “I shouldn’t have been so cavalier. … No one should have to vote for any party based on their race, their religion, their background.”
President Trump mocked his rival Saturday morning.
“Sleepy Joe cannot bring us to greatness. He is the reason I’m here!” Trump jeered on Twitter, while re-upping an earlier tweet of a recent poll showing him leading Biden in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Charlamagne urged Biden to choose a black woman as his running mate, reminding him during their sitdown of how black voters in South Carolina saved his struggling primary campaign.
Biden has repeatedly stressed that black women are being considered, with the candidates believed to be California Sen. Kamala Harris, former Georgia lawmaker Stacey Abrams and Florida Rep. Val Demings.
Charlamagne on Saturday strongly warned against selecting Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a white Midwestern moderate, who some insiders have said is a frontrunner for the VP job.
“I think that would be suicide for Joe Biden’s campaign,” Charlamagne told The Washington Post. “If he did that, especially at this moment, after the comments that he made … He would be a fool not to put a black woman as his running mate.”