Black Engagement Committee: We Support Biden

As Black American voters, we feel compelled to speak out about the current state of the presidential race. Nearly a week and a half ago, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump faced off in their first debate. Since then, there has been a persistent narrative in mainstream media suggesting that President Biden should be replaced as the Democrats’ presumptive nominee.

President Joe Biden has been outstanding. The Biden-Harris Administration has demonstrated that they should receive another four years to cement the successes of their first term and undo the damage done to the country by Trump and the MAGA Republican Party. We feel this ticket represents our best chance to defeat Donald Trump and the extremist MAGA movement. Therefore, we stand in resistance to the idea that Joe Biden should be replaced at the top of the ticket.

During that debate, Donald Trump was his usual self. He lied outright on just about every topic or refused to answer questions for the entirety of the evening. In addition, and as always, he was mean, often incoherent, and extremely racist. Our assessment of his debate performance does not even include the fact that he is a convicted felon with an impending sentencing hearing for his crimes, an adjudicated rapist according to a federal judge, and he’s still awaiting multiple criminal trials for several dozen additional felony counts. We must not forget that he also fomented an attempted coup where he tried to remain in office beyond his four-year term. Trump is unfit to even be in the conversation for President of the United States.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to be normalized in the media, and in some cases bolstered with curated Trump campaign talking points, as he stands alongside Joe Biden on a debate stage. This is an outrage. 

Many Biden Achievements

Not only is Joe Biden an honorable and decent man, he has done great things for young people, seniors, and families.  Among his administration’s many achievements, he has:

• Been a stalwart advocate for abortion rights
• Approved $167 billion in student loan debt forgiveness for millions of borrowers
• Approved $16 billion in HBCU funding
• Protected families against rising medical costs
• Presided over one of the greatest economies in American history–the strongest in the world
• Successfully brought us back from the Covid pandemic
• Enacted the most ambitious environmental agenda in American history 
• Brought us historic investments in infrastructure
• Has cemented the United States as the semiconductor capital of the world 

This just scratches the surface of his successes. He is by no means perfect. And, yes, he had a single subpar debate. But he’s a far cry better than Donald Trump. 

Lest fellow Democrats forget, we had a Presidential Preference Election, as did every other state. En route to becoming the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee, Joe Biden tallied 14 million votes. Several elected Democrats around the country who have called for Joe Biden to be replaced could have primaried him precisely for the very reasons they now insist he should step aside. They chose not to do so.

Despite this, at the eleventh hour, some are reportedly working in a “back room” to railroad him out of the nomination. Not only is this anti-Democratic, it also offers no better guarantee of a favorable electoral outcome than sticking with the person who has actually defeated Donald Trump–the ONLY person to have defeated Donald Trump. Disenfranchising the 87% of us who voted to renominate Joe Biden is a bad idea and will prove ruinous to our prospects in November. 

Now is the time to take the fight to Republicans–to go on offense, not play defense. Make the election a referendum on Donald Trump and the grave danger he poses to the world and to the American Experiment with his dangerous Project 2025 plan that would bring authoritarianism into full blossom if he is elected. 

As for President Biden, the decision to whether he should continue is his and his alone. Unless and until he decides otherwise, on his own, we stand firm in our support. We strongly urge all Democrats to do the same.