Don’t believe Joe Biden’s defense of his “you ain’t black” insult on The Breakfast Club. His time with Charlamagne the God was supposed to boost his black approval numbers, but Biden flopped. Even Maxine Waters (D-CA) stated, “I don’t know,” when asked if Biden could beat Trump (source: Just The News). The guess here is Uncle Joe added kindling to the Blexit (black exit) fire.
Blexit are black voters tired of identity talk and angered by black situations. It advocates (1) school choice, (2) criminal justice reform, (3) entrepreneurs, and (4) less victim-history for black Americans. I’ve heard the Breakfast Club interview, and Charlamagne repeatedly asked the candidate about black America’s situation; getting a history lesson – before Biden’s horrible ending.
His staff interrupted Charlamagne: “That’s really our time. I apologize.” Charlamagne: “You can’t do that to black media [because] we got more questions.” Biden: “You got more questions – if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black!” Charlamagne: “It don’t have nothing to do with Trump. It has to do with [wanting] something for my community.” In short, Biden insulted Charlamagne into echoing Blexit.
In politics, the reaction – be it a cover-up or pointing fingers – is more revealing than the mistake. In this case, black voters can take the personal measure of Biden defending his offensive behavior (not a good thing). And so, Biden aide Symone Sanders tweeted the comments “were in jest” and Biden told CNN, “The bottom line [is] perhaps I was much too cavalier [and] a wise guy.” Not much contrition, to say the least.
On Sunday, Charlamagne had this to say about whether Biden took the black vote for granted: “I know that’s the attitude [and] why I don’t ever care about the words and lip service” (source: MSNBC). Then, a USA Today editorial claimed Biden was guilty of “voter intimidation.” Then, his black friend, Rep. Jim Clyburn, admitted he “cringed [because] Joe did not do [so] well in responding.”
On Tuesday, Harlem residents spoke negatively of Biden to Lawrence Jones (Fox News), after Biden blamed Charlamagne: “it was a mistake [and] I was smiling [and] he was being a wise guy [so] I responded in kind” (source CNN). Translation: the black host dared disrespect me, who’s done so much for black Americans, and I’m not having that! Bad optics, but don’t expect a big uptick in black support for President Trump.
The problem for Democrats, however, is Biden’s words do chip away at the Black Firewall. This was acknowledged by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), speaking as a black Republican: “Biden [saying] to 1.3 million African-Americans, who voted for President Trump, that they ‘ain’t black’ is arrogant, condescending. I am just amazed that the last decade Democrats have had an entitlement mentality that they’re entitled to the black vote.”