Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is clarifying remarks he made about the Latino and Black communities after a video clip circulated.
He sought to clarify his comments, as he tweeted late Thursday, “In no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith—not by identity, not on issues, not at all.”
“Throughout my career I’ve witnessed the diversity of thought, background, and sentiment within the African American community,” he continued in a series of tweets. “It’s this diversity that makes our workplaces, communities, and country a better place.”
The former vice president concluded, “My commitment to you is this: I will always listen, I will never stop fighting for the African American community and I will never stop fighting for a more equitable future.”
Earlier today, I made some comments about diversity in the African American and Latino communities that I want to clarify. In no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith—not by identity, not on issues, not at all.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 7, 2020
My commitment to you is this: I will always listen, I will never stop fighting for the African American community and I will never stop fighting for a more equitable future.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 7, 2020
Biden’s clarification follow his remarks made during a National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) virtual convention broadcasted in full on Thursday.
He said, “What you all know, but most people don’t know, unlike the African-American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community, with incredibly different attitudes about different things.”
Biden added, “You go to Florida you find a very different attitude about immigration in certain places than you do when you’re in Arizona. So it’s a very different, a very diverse community.”
His campaign also sought to clarify his comments, telling ABC News, “It’s clear that Vice President Biden was referring to diversity of attitudes among Latinos from different Latin American countries. The video that is circulating is conveniently cut to make this about racial diversity but that’s not the case.”
In case you missed it:
.@JoeBiden: “Unlike the African-American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community." pic.twitter.com/FBDfskYz3W
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) August 6, 2020
A survey conducted by Telemundo and BuzzFeed News found 75% of young non-Latino Black voters said they would back Biden in the 2020 election, as well as 72% of young non-Latino Asian voters.