Trump compares his record on race to Abraham Lincoln; Biden calls him a racist
Honest Don?
One of the more heated moments of an otherwise relatively civil debate came when President Donald Trump boasted that no president had done more for African Americans than him except, maybe, the president who ended slavery.
“Nobody has done more for the black community than Donald Trump,” Trump claimed. “If you look, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln — possible exception, but the exception of Abraham Lincoln — no one has done what I’ve done.”
The president frequently touts his efforts to advance criminal justice reform, which included a White House visit from reality TV star Kim Kardashian. He has also worked to develop opportunity zones and touted his record on black unemployment prior to the pandemic.
Trump falsely claimed that Biden had referred to African Americans as “superpredators” when he was drafting the 1994 crime bill, which is blamed for leading to mass incarcerations that disproportionately affected African Americans.
Biden fired back that Trump took out ads in 1989 demanding that five teenagers charged with raping a jogger in New York’s Central Park be executed. Those suspects were later exonerated.
“Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history,” Biden mocked.
He noted that the president has campaigned to limit Mexicans and Muslims from entering the U.S. “He pours fuel on every single racist fire.”
“You made a reference to Abraham Lincoln — where did that come in?” the president asked.
Trump countered that he never said he was Honest Abe, but was simply stating that his record on race, in his opinion, is the strongest since that of the 16th president. He also claimed to be the “least racist person in the room,” then looked around and said it was too dark to see who was there, but that it wouldn’t matter.
When Trump again started on the 1994 crime bill, Biden said “Oh, God!” making no effort to conceal his exasperation over the president’s views on the topic.
“You know who I am, you know who he is, you know his character, you know my character,” Biden said. “You know our reputations for honor and telling the truth. I am anxious to have this race.”
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