Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden during a virtual panel event compared the Latino community as “an incredibly diverse community” unlike the African American community who lacks diversity of thought.
During a panel interview at a joint conference of National Black and Latino journalists that aired Thursday morning, Biden was asked if he would restore the Obama administration’s focus on mending relations and “reengaged with Cuba.”
Biden responded “yes,” before he pivoted into comparing the differences of opinion amongst the two communities.
“And by the way, what you all know, but most people don’t know, unlike the African-American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community, with incredibly different attitudes about different things,” Biden told the panel Wednesday.
He went on to add the Hispanics in Florida compared to Arizona have a “very different attitude” regarding the issue of immigration.
“You go to Florida, you find a very different attitude about immigration in certain places than you do when you’re in Arizona. So it’s a very different, a very diverse community.”
Trump pounced on the remarks from Biden, telling reporters before heading to Ohio that the former Vice President “totally disparaged and insulted the Black community.”
“I just watched a clip and Joe Biden this morning totally disparaged and insulted the Black community,” Trump said. “What he said was incredible and I don’t know what is going on with him, but it was a very insulting statement he made.”
Joe Biden: ‘Unlike the African American Community … the Latino Community Is an Incredibly Diverse Community‘ https://t.co/mceJwwG7aV via @BreitbartNews. Wow! Joe Biden just lost the entire African American community. What a “dumb” thing to say!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2020
The Trump campaign also seized on this remark, as well as a few Biden made during the hour-long interview panel, slamming all the comment “that oozes out of Joe Biden” are “disgusting.”
“The condescending white liberal racism that oozes out of Joe Biden is disgusting,” Trump campaign senior adviser Katrina Pierson said in a statement. “And we know that when a Black journalist asks him a tough question, he brings up cocaine use and says ‘are you a junkie?’ Now he arrogantly tells a group of Black reporters that ‘you all know’ that Black people think alike. There’s a reason Joe Biden can’t count on the support of Black voters and it’s because of his plantation owner mentality.”
“Joe Biden would rather we all just shut up, get in line, and know our place,” she added.
Symone Sanders, Biden campaign senior adviser sought to manage another possible fallout from the former Vice President’s new controversial remark, saying the video circulated by their opponent is “cut” to make the case of “racial diversity” amongst Hispanic and Blacks.
“If you look at the full video and transcript, it’s clear that Vice President Biden was referring to the diversity of attitudes among Latinos from different Latin American countries. The video that is circulating is conveniently cut to make this about racial diversity but that’s not the case,” Sanders said in a statement.
Biden sparked controversy just a day ago when a preview clip from the panel event interview was released that showed the former vice president scolding a black journalist for asking if had taken a cognitive test, claiming taking such test would be like asking the reporter if he’d been tested for cocaine use before his TV on-air appearance.
“No, I haven’t taken a test. Why the hell would I take a test? Come on, man. That’s like saying to you before you got on this program if you had taken a test were you taking cocaine or not. What do you think? Huh? Are you a junkie?” Biden responding, laughing at the end of his response.
Later on during the panel, Biden gloated how Black Americans have supported his 4-decade political career.
“My state is the eighth largest black population in the United States of America as a percent of the population. That’s where I started. That’s my support. That’s what I’ve been working with my whole career,” he said.
Black voters overwhelmingly vote Democratic and were the primary factor that revived the former Vice President Democratic presidential campaign in a landslide victory in the South Carolina that placed him to the path as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Despite Biden laundry list of outrageous and insensitive remarks towards Blacks in the last 40 years, a plurality of African Americans are loyal to the Democratic party and still support him. Polling in the last few months shows that Biden has an overwhelming lead over Trump with Black voters
In a recent Economist-YouGov poll, 76 percent of Black supporters chose Biden, while only 12 percent said they would vote for Trump. With Hispanic voters, Biden has 54 percent of support with 24 percent saying they pick Trump.
20202020 Election2020 Presidential RaceAfrican American CommunityBlacksImmigrationKatrina PiersonLatino CommunityNational Association of Black JournalistsNational Association of Hispanic JournalistsPresident TrumpSymone SandersTrump 2020 Campaign
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