President Biden on Friday appeared to stumble while referring to the phrase “Black jobs,” a term Democrats have criticized former President Trump for using, before pivoting to attack Republicans.
“With your help, in just three and a half years, we've created more than 2 million new black jobs for black people, black Americans,” Biden told the crowd at a White House brunch celebrating black excellence, as the crowd responded with laughter when Biden raised his hand.
“By the way, the next office that should be held by a black person is president of the United States,” he joked, drawing cheers in reference to Vice President Harris.
Harris, who has already made history as the first Black and South Asian American to hold the vice presidency, is now seeking to succeed her boss in the Oval Office and, if elected in November, would become the first woman and first woman of color to hold the position.
In the first presidential debate before incumbent Biden was forced to historic withdraw from the race, Trump claimed that immigrants were “stealing jobs from black people,” sparking an immediate and fierce backlash.
Former first lady Michelle Obama and NAACP President Derrick Johnson both referenced the remarks in their respective speeches at the Democratic National Convention last month, where Harris formally accepted the party's nomination.
“Now, who would tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those 'black jobs'?” Obama said to applause.
Johnson introduced himself at the convention by saying he was “here to do the work of a black man.”
Biden on Friday denounced false claims about Haitian migrants that Trump made during his first debate with Vice President Harris earlier this week.
“The Haitian American community is under attack right now in our country,” Biden said at the brunch event.
“That is simply wrong. In the United States, [for this]”… This has to stop, what he's doing has to stop,” he said, without naming Trump.
Biden touted his administration's investments in helping Black Americans and thanked the Black community for its support, saying, “The Black community has always had my back, and I've always had your back.”
