President Joe Biden sat down with BET journalist Ed Gordon for an interview that aired Wednesday, July 17, to discuss what’s at stake for African Americans in the 2024 presidential election.
Biden, 81, discussed diversity in his administration, concerns about his age, the effect a second Trump presidency could have on social progress, and Project 2025 — a conservative think tank’s controversial blueprint for a potential Trump administration.
Due to the recent assassination attempt on former president Trump, the topic was first on the list during Biden’s nearly 27-minute interview.
“I’ve said we’ve got to tone down the rhetoric on violence. There’s no room for violence. We can’t be talking about violence, we can’t be saying that if I lose the election there will be a bloodbath, which he says,” Biden stated about Trump.
Related: Amanda Seales Claims Deadly Shooting at Trump Rally Was ‘Staged’
Biden then turned his attention to Project 2025, describing it as a threat to African Americans, and he condemned the idea that the Department of Education should be abolished.
“Trump’s Project 2025 says do away with the Department of Education. Leave it up to local schools… he’s talking about [abolishing] all efforts to right the ships,” Biden said.
As for the increasing calls among prominent Democrats for Biden to bow out of the presidential race because of his age after last month’s poor debate performance, he reiterated that he would suspend his re-election campaign if and only if he was diagnosed with a serious medical condition.
“If there’s some medical condition that emerged, if doctors came and said, ‘You’ve got this problem and that problem,'” Biden said, before suggesting his age and experience are beneficial.
“Age brings a little bit of wisdom and I think I’ve demonstrated that I know how to get things done for the country… but there’s more to do and I’m reluctant to walk away from that,” he said.
Inflation and equity were also discussed. Biden said inflation is coming down, but he insisted the nation must turn its attention to corporate greed and the impact it has on Americans.
On police brutality and progress since George Floyd’s death in 2020, Biden said: “We didn’t get legislation, so I took executive action. Made sure these [police officers] gotta wear cameras.”
He trumpeted some of his other accomplishments since becoming president, including appointing African American Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday, and hiring “more African Americans than any administration in history.”
“It’s important that that kid in tenth grade look up and say I can do that,” Biden said about the importance of diversity.
He then called for reallocating funds from police departments to social services, or what’s commonly referred to as “defunding the police.”
“We don’t need more cops. We need more social workers. We need more people who are in communities building coalitions. That’s growing across the country,” Biden stated.
Gordon concluded the conversation by addressing the elephant in the room, saying Biden doesn’t have the same enthusiasm from Black voters as he did four years ago. The journalist then asked the president why African Americans should give him their votes.
“Because you know where my head is, you know where my heart is,” Biden responded.
Jada Ojii contributed to this report.
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