2020 candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) on Sunday criticized Joe Biden’s defensive response to heightened scrutiny on his policies and comments on race.
“We all have [imperfections], but when it comes to difficult issues with race, if you can’t talk openly and honestly about your own development on these issues, I think it’s very hard to lead our country forward so that we actually can deal with our past and rise to a better common cause and common future,” Booker told “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd.
“Right now the vice president to me is not doing a good job at bringing folks together,” the New Jersey Democrat said. “In fact, he’s – and I’ve heard this from people all around the country – he’s causing a lot of frustration and even pain with his words.”
Biden’s spotty history with race resurfaced once again this week after Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) took him to task during the Thursday night debate over his opposition to busing and his friendly relationships with hardline segregationists in Congress. Biden claimed Harris was mischaracterizing his position on busing.
Then on Friday, the former vice president had another verbal gaffe while discussing discrimination against black people in the criminal justice system.
“We’ve got to recognize that kid wearing a hoodie may very well be the next poet laureate and not a gangbanger,” Biden said.
Biden’s campaign spokesman later issued a statement saying that Biden was “calling direct attention to the daily experienced faced by many African-American men around the country and the perceived so-called ‘threat’” from people like Trayvon Martin.
Watch Booker below:
Booker on Biden's repeated slip-ups with race: "He's caused a lot of frustration and even pain with his words." pic.twitter.com/SlRi7bq6EJ
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) June 30, 2019
“Evolved” is the word I think we are all looking for.
Jimmy Carter did.
Obviously Obama knows a lot about Biden that we don’t know about. Biden might mean well but his language around race is decades old.
We can’t afford a caretaker POTUS after Trump. Biden has been wrong on too many issues. We have to do better in 2020 if we want to avoid Cotton/Hawley (like Trump/Pence but competent) in 2024.
Democrats want to win the election, but they also want to make progress on all the topics that have gone underground in the Trump era. We can either play it safe and nominate Biden and not get very far in the directions we want to go, or we can go long and go for broke. I think the apathy we see among the voting public at large might be disguising a tremendous hunger for bold moves. Trump was the first beneficiary of that feeling (with an assist from deplorable quarters), and I’m hoping Booker/Biden/Warren/Buttigieg can ride that wave as well. I just hope we don’t make the mistake of nominating the “millionaires and billionaires guy” (Sanders) or someone overly self-impressed (Beto) or someone kooky (Williamson).
EDT: I meant to write Booker/Harris/Warren/Buttigieg. I got carried away by alliteration.
Considering how much ground people of color have lost due to the mainstreaming of racism under the Trump/Miller Administration and that people of color (especially women) tend to be the lifeblood and energy behind the Democratic Party, Biden really needs to get his campaign in order. I don’t believe he is racist, but his answers so far have been underwhelming and tone-deaf. And using PBO as a shield won’t cut it.