Wouldn’t be ‘talking about pardons’

Biden: If Black Americans stormed the Capitol, Trump wouldn’t be ‘talking about pardons’

The remarks came as the campaign launched a new Black voter outreach strategy in Philadelphia.

By MYAH WARD

President Joe Biden tore into Donald Trump over his record on race on Wednesday, targeting the former president for his past comments before a crowd of Black voters in Philadelphia.

“What would’ve happened if Black Americans had stormed the Capitol? I don’t think he’d be talking about pardons,” Biden said. “This is the same guy who wanted to tear gas you as you peacefully protested George Floyd’s murder. It’s the same guy who still calls the ‘Central Park Five’ guilty, even though they were exonerated. He’s that landlord who denies housing applications because of the color of your skin. He’s that guy who won’t say Black lives matter and invokes neo-Nazi, Third Reich terms.”

“We all remember, Trump is the same guy who unleashed the birtherism lie against Barack,” he continued.

Biden’s remarks came as he and Vice President Kamala Harris rallied supporters at Girard College, where they launched an organizing effort to win over Black voters. The campaign is planning an eight-figure investment in engagement with Black student groups, community and faith-based organizations across battleground states in the coming months, and Biden’s comments were among several direct appeals to Black Americans.

“Donald Trump is pandering and peddling lies and stereotypes for your vote so he can win for himself, not for you,” Biden said. “Well Donald Trump, I have a message for you: Not in our house, and not on our watch.”

It wasn’t the first time the president has leveled such attacks against Trump, but Wednesday’s speech marked the most forceful rhetoric he’s used. And it served as a response to efforts by Trump and his allies to appeal to voters in Democratic strongholds, including Atlanta and a heavily Latino and Black neighborhood in the Bronx. In his own campaign events, Trump recently has slammed Biden’s policies as harmful to communities of color.

“Joe Biden is gaslighting Black voters and failing to address his terrible policies that are hurting our community,” said Janiyah Thomas, the Trump campaign’s Black media director, in a statement. “The Biden campaign is panicking because they see that Black voters aren’t buying what Biden is selling, and President Trump is receiving a record high support in the polls from Black voters that we haven’t seen in decades.”