Yesterday, I posted on the endemic defeatism we see on the Vichy wing of the Republican party and conservative movement.
On Friday, Joe Biden gave an interview on the popular black-oriented radio show “Breakfast Club.” The host is Lenard McKelvey who goes by the name Charlamagne tha God. To say it didn’t go well is like saying the Titanic was a bit late for its New York arrival.
"It's not about Trump. It's about who is going to present the best deal for black people. … I vote my interests, and my interests are black."
-Radio host @cthagod on Joe Biden saying "if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black." pic.twitter.com/tc7ipWYW5K
— CNN (@CNN) May 23, 2020
“If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
There is a ton of stuff wrong with this starting with Biden trying show how ‘down with the movement’ he is by using ‘ain’t’…a word he doesn’t use. But the idea that black votes are the unique possession of the Democrat party and that a person’s actual racial identity is suspect if they vote for a Republican for president is simply grotesque. And yet there were those who immediately jumped to Biden’s defense. Not overtly but using the tired Vichy Republican ideas of ‘we can’t win, so let’s surrender’ and ‘we are just as bad as they are so we can’t criticize them.’
The ppl who attacked Romney for 'binders full of women' are awful, low, cynical goons. I don't want to be part of a right-wing version of them.
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) May 22, 2020
Not everyone was happy with the post, but to take a quote from the movie Ronin:
Spence : You ever kill anybody?
Sam : I hurt somebody’s feelings once.
Fortunately, the Trump campaign does not take advice from people who have already given up and are fully prepared, if not anxious, to accept a Biden presidency. They have been hammering the issue with ads like this:
Joe Biden: Lying, Condescending, Racist.#YouAintBlack pic.twitter.com/ONEBT1fAIg
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) May 24, 2020
and to make the point that this is not a one-time sundowner Joe event, but a part of his persona they’ve recycled the epic ‘Indian accent’ episode
FLASHBACK: Joe Biden: “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent” pic.twitter.com/cHI5sMmOzb
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 24, 2020
Far from the media ignoring it, they’ve covered it. Not always well. Sometimes, like in the case of CNN, they outright lie about it (see Jonathan Turley Exposes CNN’s Selective Editing of Joe Biden’s Racism and Lies).
This is hurting Biden and the leftwing press knows it. This thread starts off with Politico magazine contributing editor David Freedlander sniveling about the unfairness of it all in response to this tweet
Fast work. Trump campaign is already selling "You ain't black" shirts for $30. https://t.co/6ZouwVf37H
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) May 22, 2020
The ability of the Trump campaign to take a minor Biden gaffe and kick up a whole day's worth of coverage on it (so far) at least with Biden apologizing and write-ups in the NYT and elsewhere should scare the hell out of Democrats https://t.co/RXcicNn3K9
— David Freedlander (@freedlander) May 22, 2020
Brian Beutler, who started out writing at the group blog Salon and has slid all the way to something called Crooked Media (he should probably learn to code, had a good cry, too
The output of journalism is *supposed* to reflect what's true and important, not who does a better job bullying reporters into covering what they want journalists to cover.
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) May 22, 2020
Think about it. Here we have an least one significant media figure complaining about the amount of coverage that the ‘you ain’t black’ comment is getting. We have another fringe figure complaining that the media are being bullied into covering the story presumably because the Trump campaign is making an significant fuss about it. I will note, for the record, that if you visit the front page of what purports to be one of the major right-tilting or inclining media outlets in the country, there is not a whisper of this story to be found.
This shows the extent to which the failure of the mainstream to cover a story is simply a function of laziness, lack of ambition, if not actual complicity on the part of conservative media. The fear of saying something that will offend the left permeates that class of conservative(ish) pundits and journalist wannabes who know that if they want to make that big jump to the ‘real’ media or land a contributor slot on CNN or MSNBC they have to play to lose. Time an again the real progress made in moving the ball forward, whether it be deconstructing the Covington Kids narrative, to the non-plagiarized investigation of Ilhan Oman, to the expose of California Democrat Katie Hill that ultimately forced her from office, is done by conservatives who happen to be journalists, not by journalists trying to use a gig at a conservative publication as a springboard to something bigger.
READ RedState’s coverage of this story:
Dem Rep: Biden Is Not ‘Entitled to Black Support,’ I’ve Never Been ‘Anyone’s Property’
Kira Davis: Joe Biden Doesn’t Get to Shred My ‘Black Card’…Or Anyone Else’s
Dems Tried to Own Memorial Day Weekend With Flag Narrative, Then Biden Said “You Ain’t Black”
Sen. Tim Scott Eviscerates Joe Biden for Racist Comments
Wow: The Longer ‘in Context’ Video Clip From Joe Biden’s ‘You Ain’t Black’ Interview Was Even Worse
Watch: Charlamagne tha God Rip Joe Biden for Hurting Black Americans
First, Biden Creates Furor With ‘You Ain’t Black’ Comment, Now the NAACP Busts Him for Lying
Op-Ed: Here’s Why Joe Biden Gets Away With Saying Racist Crap
Joe Biden, the Final Authority on Blackness
The Real Lasting Impact of Joe Biden’s Racist Comments Won’t Be the Racism
Stuck in the Middle, Stuck in Neutral
Jonathan Turley Exposes CNN’s Selective Editing of Joe Biden’s Racism and Lies
Rapper Zuby, Charlamagne Tha God Explain Why ‘It Wasn’t Just Another Gaffe’
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