US President Donald Trump tweeted on Friday that presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden “is no longer worthy of the Black Vote,” after comments by the former vice president regarding diversity in the African American and Latino communities.
After yesterday’s statement, Sleepy Joe Biden is no longer worthy of the Black Vote!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2020
Earlier on the same day, Trump tweeted that “Sleepy Joe Biden just lost the Black Vote" and called his statement a "disaster from which there is no recovery" before deleting the tweet and replacing it with the newer comment.
The president was highlighting Biden's remarks during an interview that took place during a convention of the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
Biden was asked during the interview if he would “re-engage” with Cuba if he were to ascend to the White House - a topic that the interviewer claimed would affect the likelihood of securing votes from Cuban-American voters in Florida.
“Yes, yes," Biden said in response.
"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."
"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 diverse community", he added.
Latinos have diversity of thought unlike black people who all think alike, says Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/WRZKnUuTVU
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 6, 2020
Biden attempted to clarify his comments, which drew widespread criticism, on Thursday.
“Earlier today, I made some comments about diversity in the African American and Latino communities that I want to clarify," Biden wrote on Twitter. ”In no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith—not by identity, not on issues, not at all."
He said that throughout his career he has "witnessed the diversity of thought, background, and sentiment within the African American community".
"It's this diversity that makes our workplaces, communities, and country a better place. My commitment to you is this: I will always listen, I will never stop fighting for the African-American community and I will never stop fighting for a more equitable future", he said.
Biden was also the subject of criticism for his answer to a question from CBS News correspondent Errol Barnett earlier this week, who asked if he had taken a cognitive test.
"No, I haven't taken a test. Why the hell would I take a test? Come on, man. That's like saying you, before you got on this program, you take a test where you're taking cocaine or not. What do you think? Huh? Are you a junkie?", Biden told Barnett, who is black himself.
Throughout his campaign, the former vice president has repeatedly made comments which have been accused of being insensitive towards the black community.
In May, he said to Charlamagne tha God, a co-host of the radio show 'The Breakfast Club', that "if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black".
Despite the comments, 78 percent of registered black voters indicated they intend to vote for Biden, in contrast to 14 percent for Trump, according to a Fox News poll.
