COLUMBIA, S.C. — Joe Biden lacks the energy and vision needed to beat President Trump in the 2020 election, according to Harvard University philosopher Cornel West.
West, who supports Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, told the Washington Examiner that Biden is taking the black vote for granted and using his association with former President Barack Obama to avoid speaking “honestly and candidly to the needs of black people.”
At the South Carolina Democratic Convention, West said he does not believe Biden, who is selling himself as being the only candidate who can defeat Trump, can actually get the job done because he’s “backward looking.” West would not commit to voting for Biden if he wins the nomination.
“I think the important thing right now, we’ve got to make sure we’ve got a candidate who can beat Trump. I think Sanders can definitely beat Trump. I’m not sure Biden can beat Trump. But I do want to beat Trump,” West said.
“Bernie Sanders is the candidate who can beat Trump because you’ve got to beat Trump with energy, enthusiasm, fire your people up. Biden doesn’t have that. It would be a rerun of what we have in 2016 with sister Hillary,” he added.
West also called on the 2020 front-runner to apologize for expressing nostalgia about working with segregationist senators in the 1970s. Biden has said he has nothing to apologize for amid criticism, and several prominent African American Democrats have come to his defense.
“That doesn’t mean he’s immoral. He’s a decent brother. But he’s got to learn to be Socratic, which is to question himself and acknowledge he can be wrong. That’s not a good sign if he’s unwilling to question himself,” West said.
