- Joe Biden apologized for saying in an interview on "The Breakfast Club" on Friday morning that African-American voters deciding between him and President Donald Trump "ain't black."
- The CBS News reporter Ed O'Keefe tweeted that Biden said on a call of black business leaders: "I should not have been so cavalier. I've never, never, ever taken the African American community for granted."
- At the end of Biden's "Breakfast Club" interview, after the host Charlamagne Tha God asked him to come back on the radio show to answer more questions, Biden said: "You got more questions? Well, I'm telling you: If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black."
- In a statement on Twitter, Symone Sanders, a senior Biden campaign adviser, said that Biden "spent his career fighting alongside and for the African American community" and that the remarks were a joke.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, apologized on Friday afternoon for saying in a morning interview on the popular radio show "The Breakfast Club" that African-American voters deciding between him and President Donald Trump "ain't black."
The CBS News reporter Ed O'Keefe tweeted that Biden said on a call of black business leaders with the US Black Chambers: "I should not have been so cavalier. I've never, never, ever taken the African American community for granted."
Biden also said he "shouldn't have been such a wise guy," adding that "no one should have to vote for any party based on their race, their religion, their background," O'Keefe tweeted.
In the "Breakfast Club" interview, the host Charlamagne Tha God asked Biden some tough questions about his record on issues affecting black communities and his commitment to African-American voters.
Toward the end of the interview, a Biden aide interrupted to let them know Biden had run of time and had to go so that his wife, Jill Biden, could do an interview in their studio in the basement of their home in Delaware.
"You can't do that to black media!" Charlamagne said.
"I've got to do that to white media and black media, because my wife has to go on at 6 o'clock," Joe Biden said before looking at his watch and joking, "Uh oh, I'm in trouble."
"Listen, you've got to come see us when you come to New York, VP Biden," Charlamagne said. "Because it's a long way until November. We got more questions."
"You got more questions? Well, I'm telling you: If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black," Biden said.
Charlamagne responded: "It don't have nothing to do with Trump. It has to do with the fact I want something for my community. I would love to see—"
"Take a look at my record, man. I extended the Voting Rights Act 25 years. I have a record that is second to none. The NAACP has endorsed me every time I've run. I mean, come on," Biden said. "Take a look at the record."
While Biden's team said the former vice president made the comments jokingly, they were swiftly criticized. Katrina Pierson, a senior Trump campaign adviser, and Sen. Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, described them as offensive and patronizing to black voters.
—Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) May 22, 2020
In a statement on Twitter, Symone Sanders, a senior Biden campaign adviser, said that Biden "spent his career fighting alongside and for the African American community" and that the remarks were a joke.
"The comments made at the end of the Breakfast Club interview were in jest," Sanders said, "but let's be clear about what the VP was saying: he was making the distinction that he would put his record with the African American community up against Trump's any day. Period."
