Radio personality Charlamagne Tha God isn’t here for former Vice President Joe Biden‘s claims during a virtual town hall on Wednesday, July 22, that President Donald Trump is the first racist to be elected president. “The Breakfast Club” co-host disagreed with Biden’s ill-conceived remarks so much that he presented the presumptive Democratic candidate with Thursday’s “Donkey of the Day.”
“I really wish Joe Biden would shut the eff up forever and continue to act like he’s starring in the movie ‘A Quiet Place’ because as soon as he opens his mouth and makes noise, he gets us all killed, OK?” Charlamagne expressed on his radio show. He added, “There’s already so many people who are reluctantly only voting for Joe Biden because he’s the only option, and because Donald J. Trump is that trash.”
The 42-year-old then backed up his claims, citing polling results that displayed a wide enthusiasm gap between Biden and Trump. Charlamagne noted that it’s “not good” for the Democrat to be generating so little enthusiasm among his voters and suggested that Biden’s comments will do further damage. “Old white male leadership has failed America, and there is nothing worse than an old white male [who] can’t recognize the faults and flaws of other old white males,” Charlamagne told listeners. “Racism is the American way. Donald Trump is not the first. And sadly, he won’t be the last, right? He’s just more overt with his racism than most presidents in recent times.”
Biden lashed out at the President’s characterization of the novel coronavirus as “kung-flu”, “China virus” and the “Wuhan virus” during a virtual town hall. “No sitting president has ever done this, never, never, never,” Biden stated. “No Republican president has done this. No Democratic president. We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed, and they’ve tried to get elected president. But he’s the first one that has.”
Charlamagne later went on to accuse the former VP of “revisionist history,” calling his remarks about Trump “a lie” that “relinquishes America of all responsibility of its bigotry.” “How are we ever going to atone for America’s original sins if we don’t acknowledge them,” the radio host questioned. “How the hell can Donald Trump be the first racist president in a country where 12 presidents before him owned slaves?”
By Wednesday afternoon the Biden team already was acknowledging the gaffe, with senior campaign adviser Symone Sanders saying, “There have been a number of racist American presidents, but Trump stands out — especially in modern history — because he made running on racism and division his calling card and won.”
This isn’t the first time Charlamagne has called Biden out over his hot takes. This spring the “Black Privilege” author went after the former VP after he said during a May 22 interview with the host, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
The following evening Charlamagne told CNN that Biden was “a very intricate part” of “systemic racism” in America. “My overall takeaway from the conversation is that I heard him talk about things he did for Black people back in the day, but what have you done for me lately is my motto,” the host told the outlet. He added, “I see Black communities catching hell no matter who is in the White House.”
Biden quickly apologized for that statement, saying, “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.” He added, “I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy.”
