Cleanup on aisle Biden – By Alexi McCammond (Axios) / Aug 7 2020
After two gaffes and a low blow from President Trump questioning his faith, Joe Biden spent Thursday evening off his own message — clarifying comments and responding to attacks.
Why it matters: Biden’s responses reflect what we could see a lot more of in the next few months — cringeworthy comments and Trump smears, smacking into each other and pulling the Democrat off course.
- Biden’s campaign had vowed to be “laser-focused” on Trump’s handling of the virus.
What’s happening: Biden released two long statements last night — one walking back comments he made about African Americans during a virtual interview, and another defending against Trump’s charge that Biden “hurts God.”
- And he faced criticism by some for comparing a cognitive test to a Black reporter taking a drug test.
During a series of interviews at a convention for Black and Hispanic journalists (NABJ/NAHJ), Biden said: “Unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly diverse attitudes about different things.”
- He was answering a question from an NPR reporter about how he would engage with Cuba if elected president: “You go to Florida, you find a very different attitude about immigration than you do in Arizona. So it’s a very diverse community.”
- That prompted a three-tweet clarification from Biden on Twitter around 9 p.m.: “In no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith — not by identity, not on issues, not at all.”
Continue to article: https://www.axios.com/joe-biden-gaffes-response-296323cc-171e-491a-86d8-56c151ee826d.html
