During a town hall event on Wednesday, Joe Biden called Donald Trump the first "racist" president. It didn't take the Trump campaign and others very long to point out both the absurdity and the hypocrisy of Joe Biden's comments.
At an event organized by the Service Employees International Union, Biden was questioned on President Trump's use of the terms "Wuhan virus" and "China virus" to refer to the deadly virus that originated from -- you guessed it -- Wuhan, China.
"No sitting president has ever done this," Biden insisted. "Never, never, never. No Republican president has done this. No Democratic president. We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed, they’ve tried to get elected president. He’s the first one that has."
The deflection didn't stop there. Biden went on to accuse President Trump of attempting to divide Americans along racial lines.
The Trump campaign released a statement a short time later detailing Joe Biden's history of consorting with racist Democrats and some of the former vice president's own racist remarks.
"This is an insult to the intelligence of Black voters and is really rich coming from a guy who proudly befriended segregationists, touted an award from George Wallace, honored a former Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan, worried his kids would grow up in a ‘racial jungle,’ marveled that Barack Obama was ‘articulate’ and ‘clean,’ bragged about being from a slave state, and repeatedly used the n-word," wrote Trump 2020 Senior Advisor Katrina Pierson in a statement.
"President Trump loves all people, works hard to empower all Americans, and is supported by more Black voters than any Republican presidential candidate in modern history. No one should take lectures on racial justice from Joe Biden."
Critics on both sides of the aisle also took issue with Biden's comments.
Biden says Trump is the first racist president
— ELIJAH (@ElijahSchaffer) July 22, 2020
I mean, Woodrow Wilson, like most Democrats was pretty racist too
I mean if you consider re-segregating the gov
Intentionally firing black employees
& avoiding black appointments racist
But Trump badpic.twitter.com/QeGtCK1was
The 12 US presidents who owned slaves would like a word https://t.co/2ipPPXZ7rl
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 22, 2020
What. Someone put Biden back in his bunker. https://t.co/dnPiJc5m77
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) July 22, 2020
If I disagree does that mean I'm not black??? https://t.co/M6QwJ9VRsg
— Jason Johnson (@DrJasonJohnson) July 22, 2020
Then why are we taking down statues of all those other presidents? https://t.co/ulRVsAXK2d
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 22, 2020
President Trump himself was asked about Biden's comments at a press briefing later in the day. The president responded by listing some of the policies of his administration, concluding that he's "done more for Black Americans than anybody, with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln."
President Trump: "I've done more for Black Americans than anybody, with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln. Nobody has even been close."
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 22, 2020
Full video here: https://t.co/Vxk6Chtb4C pic.twitter.com/QW0fgjbGzD
On Wednesday, President Trump announced a surge in federal law enforcement officers to cities across the United States, including Chicago, where local officials have failed to protect their communities from out-of-control violence.