ABC News' Pierre Thomas Puts 'Old, White, Males' Running for Office on Notice

Beth Baumann | May 24, 2020 11:20 AM

An ABC News panel reflected on former Vice President Joe Biden's comments that someone "ain't black" if they choose to re-elect President Donald Trump. The network's Chief Justice Correspondent, Pierre Thomas, put Biden, and other white candidates, on notice.

"Note to older, white, male candidates: do not tell black people what is black enough or who is black enough. It's just not going to fly," Thomas said. "Now, I'm not sure how it's going to play. Some of the younger African American voters, they don't like this notion of how Biden speaks about black people. Sometimes they believe in some cases Democrats take black votes for granted. They're not down with that."

The truth is this: Democrats have taken African American voters for granted for generations. Democrats automatically assume that black voters are locked in place, that they don't have to do anything to win these voters over. The Democratic Party makes this assumption because they believe African Americans have voted for Democrats for so long that it's ingrained in them to vote for whoever has the D next to their name, regardless of how the candidate's policy positions will impact them.

The First Step Act highlighted injustices that Democrats – including Joe Biden – have championed over the years. When Republicans got the legislation passed and signed into law by President Trump, Democrats were baffled. Criminal justice reform was supposed to be their go-to topic that blacks agreed with them on.