This was published 3 years ago
Biden apologises for saying voters 'ain't black' if considering Trump
Washington: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has apologised for saying voters "ain't black" if they are weighing up a vote between him and President Donald Trump in the November election.
At the end of an interview with Charlamagne tha God, a prominent African-American radio presenter, Biden said: "Well I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black."
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he shouldn't have been so "cavalier" in his comments about black voters.Credit: AP
The gaffe was instantly leapt upon by Trump's campaign team and prominent black conservatives, who accused the former vice-president of taking African-American voters for granted.
"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," said Tim Scott, the Republican Party's only black senator.
In a conference call with black business leaders later in the day Biden said: "I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy...I shouldn’t have been so cavalier."
Black voters overwhelmingly support the Democratic party, and polls show as few as three per cent of African-Americans say they would vote for Trump if an election were held today. But Democrats are aware that low black turnout could cost them key battleground states such as Michigan and Wisconsin in November.
In particular, younger black voters - who tended to support Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary - are seen as a weak spot for the Biden campaign.
Biden adviser Symone Sanders said the statements on Friday (Saturday AEST) were supposed to be "in jest".
"Vice-president Biden spent his career fighting alongside and for the African American community," she said. "He won his party's nomination by earning every vote and meeting people where they are and that's exactly what he intends to do this November."
During the interview Biden defended his record on issues important to black voters, saying: "I extended the Voting Rights Act 25 years. I have a record that is second to none. The NAACP has endorsed me every time I've run. Come on, take a look at my record."
Referring to his success with black voters in the Democratic primary contests, Biden said: "I won a larger share of the black vote than anyone has, including Barack [Obama]."
Biden has a long history of making gaffes, including on racial matters. In 2007 he described Obama, his eventual running mate, as the first mainstream African-American [presidential candidate] who was "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy".
Early in the Democratic primary, rivals also attacked him for speaking fondly about his work with segregationist colleagues during his time in the Senate and for opposing the mandatory "busing" of black children into white neighbourhoods in the 1970s.