President Joe Biden pummeled Donald Trump’s long history of racism during a campaign rally on Wednesday in an effort to drum up support from Black voters.
Biden spoke alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and several other Black elected officials during the afternoon event at Girard College, a majority-minority boarding school in Philadelphia. The rally marked the launch of Black Voters for Biden-Harris, a campaign initiative to generate support among Black Americans.
Biden began his criticism by talking about Trump’s characterization of Jan. 6 insurrectionists as “patriots”’ whom he plans to pardon if reelected.
“Think about this: What do you think would’ve happened if Black Americans had stormed the Capitol? I don’t think he’d be talking about pardons,” Biden said.
“It’s the same guy who wanted to tear gas you as you peacefully protested George Floyd’s murder,” Biden continued in his barrage against Trump. “The same guy who still calls the ‘Central Park Five‘ guilty, even though they were exonerated.”
Biden then attacked Trump’s history in real estate, as well as his association with neo-Nazis, referencing a recent Trump campaign video that calls for a “unified reich.”
“He’s that landlord who denies housing applications because of the color of your skin,” Biden said, referencing the Justice Department’s 1973 lawsuit against Trump for racial discrimination in housing rentals. Biden added, “He’s that guy who won’t say ‘Black Lives Matter’ and invokes neo-Nazi, ‘Third Reich’ terms.”
Biden also brought up Trump’s long history of touting the false “birther” conspiracy against former president Barack Obama, and Trump’s frequently-repeated claim that he’s the greatest president for Black people in the history of America, including Abraham Lincoln.
“I think he injected too much of that bleach, I think it affected his brain,” Biden quipped, referencing Trump’s gaffe early in the Covid-19 pandemic when he dangerously suggested injecting the chemical would clear the body of the virus.
Recent polls from The New York Times and Siena College have shown Biden lagging behind Trump in multiple swing states, with Trump garnering more than 20 percent of Black voters’ support. Biden’s recent campaign efforts, including a commencement speech at HBCU Morehouse College, have worked to close that gap.
