NAACP President Issues Biden Endorsement Statement Amidst 'You Ain't Black' Disaster
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has refuted former Vice President Joe Biden’s claim that the organization has endorsed each of his political runs.
The NAACP’s statement came following a controversial interview Biden did Friday morning with “The Breakfast Club,” a popular radio show.
“Take a look at my record, man,” Biden told the show’s host, a man who goes by the name Charlamagne tha God. “I extended the Voting Rights Act for 25 years. I have a record that is second to none. The NAACP’s endorsed me every time I’ve run.”
“Take a look at the record.”
In fact, the NAACP does not endorse candidates for political office, as the organization’s president and CEO, Derrick Johnson, pointed out in a statement.
“Yesterday, former Vice President Joe Biden made a comment about the NAACP’s endorsement,” Johnson said. “We want to clarify that the NAACP is a non-partisan organization and does not endorse candidates for political office at any level.
“Persons affiliated with the NAACP at the national, state, and local levels are free to make candidate endorsements in a personal capacity, but they do not reflect support by the NAACP as an organization.”
Johnson said the group “has one mission,” and endorsing political candidates is not it.
“The NAACP has one mission and that is fighting for and advancing our Black communities towards an equitable reality,” he said.
“Our primary focus at this moment is to ensure that our communities that have been victims of domestic terrorism and disproportionately impacted by this pandemic have the opportunity to cast their powerful vote come November,” Johnson added.
An unnamed Biden campaign official told Fox News that the candidate “was referring to his ratings from the organization.”
In the NAACP’s Federal Legislative Report Card for the 108th Congress (2003-2004), Biden did indeed receive a 100 percent rating from the group.
Seconds before his NAACP comment, Biden appeared to question the blackness of African-American voters who do not support him.
Charlamagne, who is black, had suggested that he and other African-American voters will need to hear more from Biden before he earns their vote.
“It’s a long way until November. We’ve got more questions,” Charlamagne said.
“If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black,” Biden replied.
Hours later, Biden apologized for those remarks.
“[I] shouldn’t have been so cavalier,” he said on a phone call with black leaders, according to Business Insider.
Johnson, meanwhile, said Friday that Biden “cannot take the African American vote for granted.
“It is the vote that brought him this far — I think he recognizes that, and there has to be stronger preparation when you go on platforms like ‘The Breakfast Club,’ because it is an aggressive platform, but it’s also a platform where many a millennial and younger African American voters listen to, and it will and can leave an impression,” Johnson told CBS News.
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