President Joe Biden criticized Donald Trump's “Black jobs” comment as he addressed the NAACP's national convention in Nevada on Tuesday.
At last month’s debate, Trump said immigrants “are taking Black jobs now. And it could be 18, it could be 19 and even 20 million people — they're taking Black jobs and they're taking Hispanic jobs."
The comment sparked outrage. “What exactly are Black and Hispanic Jobs!?!” the NAACP posted on X following the debate.
"I know what a 'Black job' is: It's the Vice President of the United States," Biden said at the 115th NAACP national convention.
Biden’s address at the NAACP is part of a larger campaign strategy to bolster support from Black voters, a historically important voting bloc for Democrats. Black voters were crucial to Biden’s victory in 2020 and he will need their support this time around too.
Amidst calls for Biden to withdraw from the presidential race and faltering public support following his debate performance last month, Black voters have been less inclined than other groups to believe the president should drop out, Salon previously reported. In a CBS/YouGov survey conducted shortly after the debate, 58 percent of Black voters said Biden should continue running, compared to just 26 percent of white voters who said the same.
Nadia Brown, a professor of government at Georgetown University, previously told Salon that Black voters may not be “head over heels for Biden,” but they recognize that his policies and “the leaders he surrounds himself with” are better than Trump’s.
However, an Associated Press survey released Wednesday suggested Black voters are now evenly split, with 49% saying he should drop out compared to 50% who say he should stay in the race. Overall, 65% of Democrats said they want another candidate.
Biden, speaking Tuesday, also criticized Trump’s attacks on Obamacare, his tax policy and his response to the pandemic, Axios reported. It was Biden’s first appearance since the attempted assassination of Trump on Saturday, which he condemned in his speech.
"Now, just because we must lower the temperature in our politics ... it doesn't mean we should stop telling the truth," Biden said.
