The Trump campaign was ready. As soon as presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) was his running mate, Team Trump released their first ad about the new ticket. In it, the campaign declares their new nicknames for the Biden-Harris ticket, "Slow Joe" and "Phony Kamala."
On Wednesday, they released their second ad, which according to the campaign exposes Biden's "long history of racism." The ad's strategy is simple: It directly quotes Biden.
More Joe Biden in his own words - this time exposing his long history of racism. pic.twitter.com/Rhoc3xDNr5
— Kaelan Dorr (@KDORR_USA) August 12, 2020
"Unlike the African-American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things," Biden said during a video call with the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
"If you have a problem figuring out whether you're voting for me or Trump, then you ain't black," he said in a radio interview with Charlamagne tha God.
"Poor kids are just as talented and just as bright as white kids."
Those were just a few of Biden's recent racially insensitive and downright racist (in the words of civil rights lawyer Leo Terrell) remarks.
Rewinding to 2007, Biden said of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, "he's the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright, clean and a nice-looking guy."
These comments were cringey. But some of the biggest blemishes on his record on race were nicely highlighted by his newly minted running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) during the Democratic primary. In one debate, Harris shared her disgust that Biden had praised working with two former senators, Mississippi Sen. James Eastland and Georgia Sen. Herman Talmadge, who supported racial segregation.
"It was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputation and career on the segregation of race in this country," she said.
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