Joe Biden accused President Trump of being the first racist to be elected U.S. president. The Democratic nominee for president made the remark during a virtual townhall from his basement in Delaware on Wednesday.
The 77-year-old Democrat chastised Trump for repeatedly referring to the COVID-19 pandemic as the “China virus” or the “Wuhan virus”.
Biden said, “the way he deals with people based on the color of their skin, their national origin, where they’re from, is absolutely sickening.”
Biden added, “No sitting president has ever done this. Never, never, never. No Republican president has done this. No Democratic president.”
Ignoring the fact that past U.S. presidents have owned slaves, Biden said, “We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed, and they’ve tried to get elected president. But he’s the first one that has.”
President Trump responded to a reporter’s question about Biden’s statement during a press briefing on Wednesday. Trump said he’d “done more for black Americans than anybody with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln. Nobody has even been close.”
Biden says Trump is America's first racist president: "We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed, they’ve tried to get elected president. He’s the first one that has.” pic.twitter.com/BbOG3GgXvq
— The Recount (@therecount) July 22, 2020
Former U.S. presidents who’ve bought and sold African slaves include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson.
The former vice president made headlines earlier this year when he suggested Black people who don’t vote Democrat “ain’t Black”.
