Critics Accuse Bloomberg Of Using Racist Trope Against Cory Booker

Bronson Stocking | December 06, 2019 6:20 PM

On "CBS This Morning," host Gayle King asked Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg to respond to fellow Democratic candidate Cory Booker's observation that in the upcoming Democratic debate scheduled for December there will be more billionaires on stage than black people.

"Cory Booker endorsed me a number of times and I endorsed Cory Booker a number of times," the former New York City mayor began. "He's very well-spoken."

Very well spoken? Why are Democrats always amazed to encounter an "articulate" black man? Have they never met a black conservative before?

An inexhaustive list of high-profile Democrats who have used the trope of the "articulate" black man includes another Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, who called Obama "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather described Obama as "very articulate" but said he "couldn't sell watermelons" unless "you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic." Bill Clinton noted that just "a few years ago, [Barack Obama] would have been getting us coffee." And former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was reportedly mystified by Barack Obama's oratorical abilities, adding that America was finally ready to embrace a "light-skinned" black man "with no negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

So, the sort of racism Bloomberg traffics in is one that has always been popular with the Democratic Party.

Sen. Booker responded to Bloomberg's comments during an interview on the SiriusXM show "Signal Boost" on Friday. Booker said he "was taken aback by" Bloomberg's comments and said that "it is sort of stunning at times that we are still revisiting these sort of tired tropes ..." Booker then referenced the Democrats' black-face controversies earlier this year involving the Democratic Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam and Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring. Booker cautioned Democrats that they would be unable to defeat President Trump without the enthusiastic support of black voters, the prospect of which isn't looking all that great for the Democrats. Recent polls show black support for President Trump is way up since the 2016 election.