Joe Biden apologized for saying that black voters having trouble deciding whether to vote for him or President Trump are not black.
“I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy,” Biden said on a call with black business leaders Friday afternoon. “I should not have been so cavalier.”
The former vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s apology came after Trump’s reelection campaign decried the remark as “racist and dehumanizing.” Trump allies such as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott called the comment “condescending and arrogant.”
“I was much too cavalier. I know that the comments have come off like I was taking the African American vote for granted, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Biden said. “I’ve never, never, ever taken the African American community for granted.”
Biden then took aim at Trump.
“No one should have to vote for any party, based on their race, their religion, their background. There are African Americans who think that Trump was worth voting for. I don’t think so,” Biden said. “I’m prepared to put my record against his. That was the bottom line, and it was really unfortunate. I shouldn’t have been so cavalier.”
Trump “is the same man who called Africa, you know, ‘s—hole countries’ while also claiming there are fine people on both sides in Charlottesville as those racists came out of the fields carrying torches,” Biden added. “He’s lied about President Obama’s birth certificate, failed to respond to the racial disparities in the present coronavirus, and has advanced policies that further threaten the African American community.”
Biden made the comment on a tense exchange during The Breakfast Club morning radio show about race issues earlier on Friday, including about marijuana legalization and the 1994 crime bill.
As a Biden staff member tried to end the interview, host Charlamagne Tha God said, “You can’t do that to black media.”
Biden explained that his wife had to do a show, and then he said, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
Symone Sanders, a senior adviser on Biden’s campaign, downplayed the comment earlier on Friday, saying that it was made “in jest.”
