In “Dear God, still gonna have to vote for this man” news, presumptive Democratic nominee and haver of zero filter Joe Biden got into a testy back-and-forth with Charlamagne the God, the man, misogynist and Tomi Lauren apologist behind “The Breakfast Club”.
Doing the rounds on The Breakfast Club has basically become a democratic right of passage, and has bought us such gems as Hillary Clinton having hot sauce in her bag (swag), Kamala Harris admitting to smoking pot, and Bernie Sanders stepping in shit with his complete rejections of the idea of reparations for black people. Basically, the format of the show is so loose and chill that it can lull politicians into a false sense of security and cause them to commit a gaffe in ways that they wouldn’t have to on more “refined” black radios like Step’ and Fetchin’ with Steve Harvey the Steve Harvey Show.
Joe Biden, who is already basically the living, breathing epitome of a liberal grumpy old man, got a bit too comfortable and, like his resumed opponent, said the quiet part out loud.
From CNN:
“I do that to white media and black media because my wife has to go on at 6 o’clock,” Biden said, referring to his wife Jill Biden apparently needing to use the broadcast studio they’ve built in their basement in Delaware as the coronavirus pandemic has knocked Biden off the campaign trail. Glancing at his watch, Biden said, “uh oh, I’m in trouble.”Charlamagne told Biden that he should come to the studio in New York City for another interview, telling the former vice president that “we’ve got more questions.”
“You’ve got more questions?” Biden replied. “Well I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
Pffft…where do I even start with this shit…
I think it’s important to note that I don’t think Joe Biden had any malice behind what he said. In the context of the video, it’s pretty clear that Biden is cracking a joke. BUT– and as esteemed philosophers Bell, Biv and even Davoe has said, you can never trust a big but — even in the airy fairy space of the Breakfast Club, Biden was way out of line and probably should have known better.
Biden apologized, of course, and swears up and down he’s not taking the black vote for granted. Biden has frequently cited his appeal to black people as a reason why he was more “electable” than all of the other candidates, and I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a factor in Biden responding in the way he does.
It speaks to a larger issue that exists with Joe. Remember when Joe lashed out at someone (rightly) criticizing Obama’s approach to immigration? Joe told that person to “go vote for Trump”. Biden has a habit of getting aggravated when people push his buttons, but his retort has always been “Trump is worse”.
And that’s the thing; Trump is worse than Biden, if only because even a sunsetting Joe Biden is still infinitely more competent than Donald Trump at literally everything. But “I am not as bad as Trump” is barely a compelling argument to get people to rally behind you.
In a similar way, “I am better for black people than Trump is” is not an entirely wrong assessment. What is wrong is that Biden’s entire approach seems to be less about voting for him for what he can do and more voting for him because he’s the only viable options. Which, again, might be true, but certainly doesn’t get anyone who’s on the fence about him to finally come over to his side, even begrudgingly so.
Futhermore, Biden’s adjacency to the first black President seems to have given him some weird ideas about what he is and isn’t allowed to say when it comes to black people. It doesn’t help the idea that black people are used as “voting stock” when the presumptive Democratic nominee kept on bring up his standing with black folks for why he should not get elected.
Not his ideas, not his policies. “Vote for me because black folks aren’t going to vote for someone else” has been Biden’s whole mood for the entirety of his campaign, essentially threatening other Democrats that turnout wouldn’t be high if he wasn’t nominee.
It’s no wonder Joe Biden was feeling himself. He thinks he’s invincible. And given the shitty circumstances we currently find ourselves under, he might be right.
Might be.
So Biden got too big for his britches and said out loud what some black folks might think about black “Republicans”. He’s managed to make it this far despite making gaffes basically any time he opens his mouth.
But while he moves to assure people he doesn’t take the black vote for granted, it’s hard to not see him so speaking so deliberately out of pocket, with little in the way of consequences, and think that he definitely, definitely does.
oh whew….its just that one again…. i thought he actually managed to put his foot in it again..again…. dudes kinda gifted on that front
its hard to not be a better option than trump tho…
clinton was….and look where that got her
Biden’s already committed (supposedly) to choosing a woman VP and this almost guarantees he’ll pick a black woman. Let me be clear, I’m voting for him, but I’m also voting for his proxy, the VP. It would be a sad turn of events if it comes to pass in this way but we might get a black woman President sooner than we know. Fine with me!
I foolishly commented over on Jezebel that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s husband’s (very polite) request that some dockyard put his boat in the water for Memorial Day, and mentioning Who He Is, probably sank her chances for the VP nod. I don’t live in Michigan, I don’t know anyone who does. But it’s national news that some Michiganders are champing at the bit to open up. I think we all have seen the heavily armed protesters who stormed the State Capitol in Lansing. I speculated about a possible recall drive over this. The Jezzies were having none of it. 60% approval ratings! Everyone loves her. Excessive attention paid to a very loud, very small minority.
Fine, whatever, I don’t live in Michigan. I’m in New York, with our buffoonish Mayor and a Governor who has to deal with his (de Blasio’s) clownish pronouncements on almost a daily basis, and frenemy-ing with the Buffoon-in-Chief to keep the tap turned on and the money flowing back into New York.
I should have known better than to go over there and criticize a white woman, even in the most indirect way.
Ooh you prob stepped in it good Cousin Matthew!
It actually wasn’t that bad, it was mostly “What are you talking about??? She has a 60% approval rating!!!” Other people got it far worse than me. Their audience of commenters is dwindling by the day, which is too bad, because I really like a lot of them. Just when I think they’ve gone for good I see them pop up on the other kinja sites, so their accounts are still active, they just don’t want to comment on Z-list celebs they’ve never heard of or say anything remotely political. It’s a very weird dynamic. Are we pro-Joe Biden? Sometimes, because TRUMP, but not always, because BERNIE. Depends on the mood of the crowd. Is Kamala Harris the black woman who might save us all? More of than not, no. Amy Klobuchar? Oh no. Should we talk about Elizabeth Warren? Well, not really, except she decided to hold a fundraising call with “Wall Street” donors, and then the gloves are off!
About two years ago I read a mainstream, widely-read media article, can’t remember which outlet or what the topic was, that included a dismissive reference to Jezebel as the same 20 people bouncing their echoes in a bubble. I disagreed at the time, but if you look at the comment engagement it keeps dwindling. They might soon be down to 20, since elevation into the blacks now seems to be impossible (and possibly unwelcome by the staff and management). I think they’re shooting themselves in the foot. Lose the community engagement (much as the staff might disagree with a few of the opinions expressed) and lose the readership, what is the point? Splinter had a healthy, vibrant, occasionally extremely contentious commentariat and Herb Spamfellow shut them down just as we were heading into the most interesting Democratic primary season within recent memory. Deadspin used to get hundreds of comments and tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of views for non-sports-related articles. Look what happened.
Oh, rant over, but Jezebel to me is another place that’s dying on the vine and it used to a lot of fun and informative. Not the posts, usually, those you would just skim, but for the comments.
My favorite Jezebel double-standard is the one that goes, “We need you to believe there’s a rape culture, but if you do believe that and thus become protective of your daughter, then you’re just being a jealous and creepy and possessive patriarch.”
As you can probably guess, I agree with you 100%. Hence our little experiment with the Splinter RIP site on Kinja, which morphed over here. Glad you keep stopping by; I won’t be super suprised when the Herb runs all of Kinja into the ground. He is a spectacturly bad at his job and an even worse herb.
It’s also related to them banning many active commentators who were in the black, bot not necessarily in the paint for Bernie.
i was in the black…lol
now i’m invisibanned….anything i post straight up dissapears
and i still dont know what i did to deserve that
*shrugs*
oh well… saturday night social is the only bit i miss being able to post anyway
I’d always liked Jezebel, but I stopped going regularly a couple of years ago, and I eventually just quit peeking in entirely. I used to bristle at the echo chamber complaints too, but it’s really doubled down on some of the worst parts of big-city leftist “yaaaas kweeeeeennn” feminism.
I’ma go out on a limb and suggest that Jezebel ceased to be “Jezebel” around the time some woman of color who held a position of power in the company left. You know, if Splinter is anything to go by.
It definitely went straight downhill after Kara Brown left.
I’m sure the least of us in 2021, bankrupt, uninsured, homeless, starving, will appreciate being told, “You were worse off under Trump!”
This little turn of phrase really made my day: “and as esteemed philosophers Bell, Biv and even Davoe has said, you can never trust a big but…”
This year’s increase in hurricane occurrence and severity will be fueled in part by my increased sighing.
Sigh.