Joe Biden tells black man if he doesn’t vote for him ‘you ain’t black’

Given he’s up against one of the most controversial presidents in living memory, it’s a surprise that Democratic nominee Joe Biden isn’t finding the presidential race a cakewalk.

Biden’s bid has been dogged by sexual assault allegations, avoidable gaffes and Donald Trump’s determination to tie him to legacy of Barack Obama, who he served under as vice president.

Biden’s been on a concerted campaign to course-correct and connect with voter demographics he needs to shore up in order to beat Trump come November.

And that’s what led him to appear on The Breakfast Club, a cult radio show that commands an audience of about 3 million people a month who tune in to hear Charlamagne tha God host discussions on hip hop culture, politics and social issues.

Biden showed up for an interview with Charlamagne this morning. The host has previously been critical of Biden’s record on racial issues and quizzed Biden on topics like the disproportionate number of black people jailed for minor marijuana usage, the higher death rate of black and Latinx people from Covid-19 and rumours of Biden running alongside a black woman as his VP pick.

When the latter subject came up, Biden said there were “multiple black women” being considered before a member of Biden’s team could be heard telling Charlamagne that they were out of time.

As the pair were wrapping up, Charlamagne told Biden he had to come to New York to appear on the show again before November’s election.

“It’s a long way until November,” the host told Biden. “We’ve got more questions”.

To this, Biden replied:

Well I’ll tell you, if you’ve got a problem figuring out if you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.

Charlamagne quickly set him straight, saying:

It don’t have nothing to do with Trump, it has to do with the fact I want something for my community.

A clip of the encounter was first reposted by Republican grassroots campaign America Rising but has been picked up by a cross-party audience.

Funnily enough, a white man telling a black media personality what makes him “black” has not been well-received.

Especially since Charlamagne’s focus is on representing the black community and their experiences through his radio show.

Biden was seen to have crossed a line.

Some social media users said it shows Biden and his team aren’t taking black issues “seriously” because they assume they’ve automatically shored up their votes.

Others felt the need to remind Biden that he was not, in fact, black.

There was concern about the impact of yet another Biden gaffe.

Even The Breakfast Club’s own Twitter account ran a poll that seemed to raise an eyebrow at Biden’s choice of words.

Looks like we're in for an extremely long election campaign...