President Trump’s reelection campaign blasted former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday for saying that if you support Trump “then you ain’t black,” calling the remarks “racist and dehumanizing.”
“White liberal elitists have continuously dictated which black Americans are allowed to come to the table and have a voice,” said Katrina Pierson, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign and leader of its Black Voices for Trump group.
“It is clear now more than ever, following these racist and dehumanizing remarks, that Joe Biden believes black men and women are incapable of being independent or free thinking. He truly believes that he, a 77-year-old white man, should dictate how black people should behave. Biden has a history of racial condescension and today he once again proved what a growing number of black Americans and I have always known — Joe Biden does not deserve our votes.”
During a sometimes-contentious interview with popular radio show “The Breakfast Club” on Friday, host Charlamagne Tha God told Biden he should come back on the show at some point because “we’ve got more questions.”
“You’ve got more questions?” Biden replied. “Well I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
Over the course of the interview, Charlamagne repeatedly pressed Biden on his past support for crime bills in the 1980s and 1990s that have led to the mass incarceration of black people.
Biden defended his record and noted that he’s vetting “multiple” black women to be his running mate. Biden also pointed to his broad support among African Americans in the polls and said that black voters delivered him sweeping victories across the country during the Democratic primaries.
Trump’s campaign has sought to make inroads with black voters, opening community centers in key battleground states and running a weekly livestream featuring black surrogates talking about how the president’s policies have been beneficial for the black community.
But polls show Biden with a lead of 30 to 40 points among black voters, who make up the backbone of the Democratic Party.
Conservatives also condemned Biden’s remarks, which were highlighted right away by the GOP super PAC America Rising.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), one of only two black Republicans in Congress, accused Biden of taking “the black community for granted.”
“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,” Scott said.