Joe Biden Gets Mixed Reax On ‘You Aint Black’ Comment, Many Agree White People Should Sit This Out
In an interview with Charlamagne tha God on The Breakfast Club, former Vice President Joe Biden said if black voters are having trouble deciding whether to support him or President Donald Trump, they “ain’t black,” prompting backlash on Twitter.
“It’s a long way until November. We’ve got more questions.” Biden said during the interview. “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me for Trump, then you ain’t black.”
“It don’t have nothing to do with Trump,” Charlamagne responded. “It has to do with the fact that I want something for my community.”
Senior Biden campaign adviser Symone Sanders responded to the controversy by noting that Biden’s comments were made “in jest,” and explained that the former VP “was making the distinction that he would put his record with the African American community up against Trump’s any day.”
The comments made at the end of the Breakfast Club interview were in jest, but let’s be clear about what the VP was saying: he was making the distinction that he would put his record with the African American community up against Trump’s any day. Period.
— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) May 22, 2020
Many other political and public figures took to Twitter to express their anger with the presumptive Democratic nominee, and not all along partisan lines. Others, including The Breakfast Club host, defended Biden to varying degrees and with a variety of qualifications, pointing out Trump’s extensive list of “racist policies” and “rhetoric.”
Another recurring theme was that people who aren’t black should not be telling black people how to feel about Biden’s remarks, any more than Biden should be assessing anyone’s relative blackness.
This Joe Biden interview is precisely why we gotta stop giving White people “invitations to the cookout” or fictive kinship status like “uncle.” We can no longer applaud and reward liberal white people for showing basic decency or, worse, merely hiding their racism.
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) May 22, 2020
i think people should ask themselves: do you know or follow a black person who really liked Joe Biden in the primary. and use that answer — coupled with how the primary went — to inform how representative of the dem black electorate your circle really is
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) May 22, 2020
I signed on and saw #YouAintBlack. pic.twitter.com/hRHtWiMqhh
— G O L D I E. (@goldietaylor) May 22, 2020
Biden’s #YouAintBlack line was wrong. That said, the delusional, craving for fame, Black Trump supporters will jump on this and ignore the racist policies/rhetoric coming from their president. Fox News will also eat it up, ignoring their history.
Their outrage is insincere. pic.twitter.com/P3ocnRgyqW
— Clay Cane (@claycane) May 22, 2020
Apparently, Biden has yet to realize that for nearly all Black voters, Trump is not an option. Biden is not running against Trump. He’s running against himself. He’s running against his past. He running against the audacity of a White man to tell Black people who ain’t Black.
— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) May 22, 2020
WHITE SUPREMACY DEFINED: Watching white Trumpers whitesplain to black people that Trump -who lead the racist birther campaign against Barak Obama -is not racist but the man who served as Obama’s VP is racist. #YouAintBlack
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) May 22, 2020
???
Your husband once called me, a full grown black man, “Boy” during a commercial break.
Please stop. https://t.co/kEASCBx6AY
— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) May 22, 2020
Joe Biden, you ain’t black, so what gives you the right to decide on other people’s blackness?#YouAintBlack
— Errol Webber For Congress (CA-37) (@ErrolWebber) May 22, 2020
What Biden said aligns with what most Black people actually feel so miss me with the mob attacking him for it because only Black people can say that. Ok. That said, gaffes are normal for Joe so expect many more of these. This is what Dems bought when we chose Joe.
— Touré (@Toure) May 22, 2020
Today, @JoeBiden had the audacity to tell a Black man, ” “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump — then you ain’t black!”
Well, sir, I am a Black man & here is my response #JoeBiden #youaintBlack #BlackTwitter #AACONS #bcot https://t.co/t17D9Mpacl
— Allen West (@AllenWest) May 22, 2020
For those keeping count Joe Biden has now:
1. When challenged told an undocumented person to vote for 45.
2. Stated that women who believe Tara Reade should not vote for him.
3. Deemed any Black folks not voting for him as “not Black”. pic.twitter.com/2unPbQ3fIy— Leslie Mac (@LeslieMac) May 22, 2020
I empathize so deeply with the Biden folks today. Remember hot sauce-gate? Yeah.
— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) May 22, 2020
This isn’t it and answering this shouldn’t have to fall to Symone. Opening this up with his primary success bleeds directly into him thinking it gives authority to mouth off like that. Biden should apologize directly. Sometimes the best spin is just owning something head on. https://t.co/cj7G2DcuJJ
— Rodericka Applewhaite (@Rodericka) May 22, 2020
Charlamagne did such a good job with that interview that he got Biden to relax. In doing so Biden tried to be funny not realizing that it would upset a lot of ppl. With that being said the election isn’t until Nov so he’ll get past this.
— Emmett Golden (@egoldie80) May 22, 2020
Folks, please listen to all 18 minutes of the @cthagod interview with @JoeBiden. The conversation is direct, but it is not nearly as contentious as has been described.
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) May 22, 2020
I’ll never stop marveling at Biden’s ability to produce unforced error after unforced error.
— Allen McDuffee (@AllenMcDuffee) May 22, 2020
This comment will not change anyone’s vote. So I won’t make more of it than necessary. Good statement from Symone here. I also maintain, if Biden is comfortable making these comments in jest than SURELY we should be comfortable making our asks in clear terms. https://t.co/aYFtYNMms5
— @tiffanydcross (@TiffanyDCross) May 22, 2020
We already know neither of them doing shit for us. But at least Biden don’t rock with Nazis and call Black athletes son of bitches
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) May 22, 2020
Biden’s comment is so ridiculous that it hardly deserve a reply. But it’s shows @DNC decade-old agenda for Blacks: We love you every time there is an election. In between we’ll treat you as ignored step children. Sad. With Joe it’s going to get sadder. He can’t help himself.
— Lacy Johnson (@LacyJohnsonMN) May 22, 2020
To non-Black people telling me I shouldn’t be bothered by Biden’s comments on Blackness:
Why do you believe it’s your place to tell me how to feel, particularly when you’re noticeably silent on how COVID-19 and cops are killing us at a disproportionately high rate?
— Staying in the Game (@AdrienneLaw) May 22, 2020
There is a difference between being politically black and being racially black. I am not defending anyone, but we all know this and should stop pretending that we don’t.
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) May 22, 2020
If your candidate calls Nazis “very fine people”, just sit this one out…
— Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta ???? (@malcolmkenyatta) May 22, 2020
Agree with Keith. https://t.co/lNVNR57oJB
— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) May 22, 2020
Just a thought…..How about we listen to the entire @JoeBiden interview with @cthagod before we start roasting him? A white man telling a black man who is and isn’t black is inexcusable, but what led to that exchange, and why Biden was triggered, matters as well
— Jason Johnson (@DrJasonJohnson) May 22, 2020
The issue wasn’t what Joe Biden said, because it was accurate. The issue was that it came from Biden. It also was clearly a joke that didn’t land. But I’m wondering where all this outrage was yesterday when y’all president declared his public devotion to a Nazi sympathizer.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) May 22, 2020
get out the don’t vote? https://t.co/6UnfRGHXFD
— Don Cheadle (@DonCheadle) May 22, 2020
Biden’s entire interview was smug and condescending. The final remark was just the worst part. It’s bizarre that people are fighting this.
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) May 22, 2020
This ain’t NO laughing matter, pal.
AND we await the campaign’s real response to this: https://t.co/IbdLDSpOTl #youoweUS https://t.co/E5YWYshU1k
— A N G E L A | R Y E (@angela_rye) May 22, 2020
Hey: I’ll take cringeworthy @joebiden indulging in over-familiar whiteness any day, over the Las Vegas, decorative triple fountain of vomit that is @realDonaldTrump. https://t.co/viaE7RMChn
— Harry Allen (@harryallen) May 22, 2020
