The hits just keep coming from the interview Joe Biden did with The Breakfast Club host Charlemagne tha God. As we all know now, Biden was trying to end the interview and let his guard down. He made a parting mistake by saying “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”

Toward the end of the interview a Biden aide tried to wrap it up and said they were out of time. Charlemagne wasn’t ready to stop, though, and said, “You can’t do that to black media.” Biden responded, “I do that to white media and black media.” He went on to explain that Dr. Jill needed to use their home media studio for an interview of her own. That was when Charlemagne said he’d like to do another interview and Biden arrogantly tried to school him about falling in line and voting for him because, you know, black people have to vote for Democrats.

While he was sputtering on about his record while in office, he said that the NAACP endorsed him in all of his past races.
“Take a look at my record man, I extended the voting rights 25 years, I have a record that is second-to-none, the NAACP’s endorsed me every time I’ve run, I mean, come on. Take a look at the record.” The NAACP national press secretary set the record straight that the NAACP doesn’t endorse candidates as an organization but individuals can endorse separately, on their own. That distinction is important.

As a non-partisan organization, the NAACP does not endorse and has one mission and that is fighting for and advancing our Black communities towards an equitable reality. Our primary focus in 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.”

Also… for further clarification 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.”

The NAACP had to correct the statement from Biden quickly because it has to do with their bottom line – tax exemption status is involved here. Political activity is prohibited and can cause the NAACP to lose its tax-exempt designation as a “non-partisan” organization. (Wink, wink, nod, nod) The organization has found itself in hot water in the past and there have been investigations into partisan remarks made during speeches by NAACP leaders in the past.

The President and CEO of the NAACP also issued a statement to clear up the matter.

“Yesterday, former Vice President Joe Biden made a comment about the NAACP’s endorsement,” the statement by Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said. “We want to clarify that the NAACP is a non-partisan organization and does not endorse candidates for political office at any level.”

But Johnson in his statement said that “the NAACP has one mission and that is fighting for and advancing our Black communities towards an equitable reality.”

“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,” he said.

Gerald A. Griggs, an attorney posted a tweet from a statement by the President of the Georgia NAACP.

Let the record reflect that the @NAACP has NEVER endorsed @JoeBiden. We don’t endorse candidates as an organization. Per @iMajorWish President of @Georgia_NAACP.

— Gerald A. Griggs (@AttorneyGriggs) May 22, 2020

So, while the NAACP was cleaning up on aisle 3, Charlemagne tha God expressed his own concerns about Joe Biden. While Biden does have a record of receiving the votes of African-American voters he also has a checkered record over his forty years in elected office. Now that Joe wants to be the most powerful man in the world, it is only natural for black voters with knowledge of his record to ask questions about where he stands now. Joe Biden has a history of lying during political campaigns about his own record. He embellishes his record and activism to the point that in the past he has had to withdraw from two past presidential runs. In his first presidential campaign in 1987, he claimed to be a civil rights activist as a teenager in Delaware. He eventually had to withdraw that claim. During the current campaign, Kamala Harris blasted him for his voting record on busing and segregation in the past. Charlemagne doesn’t sound like he’s sold on Biden’s bid for president.

“My takeaway from the conversation was I heard him talking about things he did for black people back in the day, but you know ‘what have you done for me lately’ is my motto,” he said on CNN late Friday.

He also said Biden was “really one of the people on the front line when it came to the war on drugs and mass incarceration.”

It should be noted that Biden never actually apologized for his “You ain’t black” remark. He nuanced it to the point of not getting around to saying he is sorry for saying what he did. At first a campaign adviser tried to claim it was just a joke. Then Biden gave his response.

Biden campaign adviser Symone Sanders defended the comments on Friday, saying they were made “in jest”.

“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.”

Mr Biden scrambled to make amends on a call later to black business leaders.

“I should not have been so cavalier,” he said. “I’ve never, never, ever taken the African American community for granted.”

He added: “I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy.”

He continued: “No-one should have to vote for any party based on their race, their religion, their background.”

And, can we talk about how condescending it is for an old white man to use the word ‘ain’t’ to a black audience when he doesn’t do that with others? It’s like when politicians suddenly try to speak with a southern accent though they aren’t from the South. I still can hear Hillary Clinton recite “I don’t feel no ways tired” as she pandered to black audiences.