Joe Biden Apologizes For Telling Black People “You Ain’t Black” If You Don’t Vote For Him Over Donald Trump

Joe Biden is apologizing after he said “you ain’t Black,” if you don’t vote for him over Donald Trump.

Biden has gotten himself in some hot water with Black voters following his latest interview with The Breakfast Club. The Democratic presidential candidate appeared on the popular radio show to discuss a variety of topics, including having a Black woman vice president, deconstructing the criminalization of marijuana, and more.

Just as the interview was coming to a close, #CharlamagneThaGod asked him to come back to the show to answer more questions, Biden responded:” You got more questions? Well, I’m telling you: If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.” Charlamagne responded: “It don’t have nothing to do with Trump. It has to do with the fact I want something for my community. I would love to see—”

It didn’t take long for people to respond to Biden. One Twitter user wrote, “#JoeBiden who has a long track record of anti-Blackness, was on the #BreakfastClub today. He had the nerve to say if Black people have a problem deciding between him or Trump, then #YouAintBlack.” Another person wrote, “Joe Biden really took his ass on The Breakfast Club, A BLACK POP CULTURE RADIO SHOW, and said and I QUOTE, “‘f you have a problem figuring out whether to vote for me or for Trump, then you aren’t Black!’ This is who y’all want us to rally behind!?”

CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe later tweeted that Biden apologized for his words during a call with the Black leaders of the U.S. Black Chambers. “I should not have been so cavalier. I’ve never, never, ever taken the African American community for granted,” Biden reportedly said. He added that he “shouldn’t have been such a wise guy,” and that “no one should have to vote for any party based on their race, their religion, their background,” according to O’Keefe’s tweet. Biden’s team respond to the outrage saying that the former U.S. vice president was joking, but that didn’t save him from continuous criticism. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, said that Biden’s comments were arrogant and offensive, according to Business Insider.

In a statement on Twitter, #SymoneSanders, a senior Biden campaign adviser, said that Biden “spent his career fighting alongside and for the African American community” and that Biden just joking. “The comments made at the end of the Breakfast Club interview were in jest,” Sanders said, “but 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.”