President Joe Biden contended that he is a man of his word during the launch of his campaign’s black voter outreach program as polling indicates a lack of support for him among the demographic.
But while he presented a positive case to black voters, he also underscored former President Donald Trump‘s record, describing the former president as “unhinged.”
“The threat that Trump poses is greater in his second term than his first,” Biden told the crowd Wednesday in Philadelphia. “It’s clear that when he lost in 2020, something literally snapped in this guy. That’s why Jan. 6 happened.”
“What do you think would’ve happened had black Americans stormed the Capitol?” he said. “I don’t think he would be talking about pardons. This is the same guy who wanted to tear gas you as you peacefully protested George Floyd‘s murder.”
Biden also criticized Trump for calling himself, in Biden’s words, “the greatest president of black people in the history of America,” including former President Abraham Lincoln, who ended slavery.
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time,” Biden said. “I have shown you who I am, and Trump has shown you who he is. Today, Trump is peddling lies and stereotypes for your vote so he can win for himself, not for you. Not in our house. Not on our watch.”
“I know we have a lot more to do,” he added. “I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let Donald Trump turn America into a place that doesn’t believe in honesty, decency, and treating people with respect.”
Black voters are a crucial component of Biden’s base, with the president reiterating during his address at Girard College, a majority black school in Philadelphia, that the voting bloc “will make Donald Trump a loser again” in 2024.
But although the majority of black voters tell pollsters they support Biden over Trump, his margin of 59 percentage points, 77% to 18%, is lower than it was in 2020 or in 2016 for then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton during her election cycle, according to Pew Research Center-validated voter studies.
