(Washington) Joe Biden, who absolutely must mobilize the African-American electorate if he wants to be re-elected, castigated the “extremism” of his Republican rival Donald Trump on Friday, in a speech at the National Museum of History and African-American culture in Washington.
“My predecessor and his extremist supporters are attacking diversity, equity and inclusion across America. They do not want a country for all but a country for a few,” the American president said.
According to a recent survey New York Times/Siena, Donald Trump could garner the votes of 20% of African Americans in November, roughly double what he had in 2020.
This would be a historic record for a Republican candidate and a disavowal for his Democratic opponent, who beat him four years ago largely thanks to the mobilization of this community.
“The history of African Americans is the history of the United States. Today there is a whole group of people who are trying to rewrite history, to erase it,” said the 81-year-old Democrat, who will once again face the 77-year-old Republican magnate in the presidential election.
It refers to attempts by certain conservative local elected officials to remove mentions of the United States’ slavery and segregationist past from school curricula.
Joe Biden, who had already paid tribute on Thursday to the fight against school segregation, will receive the leaders of historically black student associations on Friday.
He will campaign Saturday in Georgia among African-American voters and will deliver a speech Sunday at the graduation of Morehouse University in Atlanta, where the great leader of the fight for civil rights Martin Luther King studied.
The same day, he will visit a business run by African-Americans in Detroit (Michigan) and will speak at a dinner organized by the NAACP, a major association fighting against racial discrimination.
Georgia and Michigan are “swing states”, decisive states in the race for the White House.
“No vote is a foregone conclusion. We’re not going to parachute into these communities [afro-américaines] at the last minute,” commented Trey Baker, one of the managers of Joe Biden’s campaign team, in a press release.
Democrats tout the many steps the president has taken to improve the standard of living for African Americans and increase diversity in government and the federal judiciary.