Republicans seize on Biden blunder to target black vote

THE Trump campaign has seized on Joe Biden’s gaffe claiming that Africanamerican voters “ain’t black” if they consider supporting Donald Trump in November.

Republican strategists have earmarked $1 million for an advertising campaign aimed at weakening the former vice-president’s support among African-american voters.

The advert highlights Mr Biden’s support for the 1994 crime bill, which led to mass incarceration, destroying “millions of black lives”.

Tim Scott, an African-american who is a Republican senator for South Carolina, has launched a website highlighting Mr Biden’s comments and is also selling #Youaintblack T-shirts.

Mr Biden has frantically tried to undo the damage, admitting that he was “much too cavalier” in his remarks.

“I know that the comments have come off like I was taking the Africanamerican vote for granted. But nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve never ever done that and I’ve earned it every time I’ve run,” he said.

The black vote was crucial in rescuing Mr Biden’s primary campaign, catapulting him to the nomination. It could also prove pivotal in swing states in the presidential election.

The Trump campaign has stepped up its campaign in recent months, taking out ads in black community newspapers in the hope of increasing the 8 per cent vote share of the Africanamerican vote which he won in 2016.

During the Super Bowl, the Trump campaign spent millions on a TV slot highlighting his support for criminal justice reform – telling the story of Alice Johnson, a black woman whose life sentence for a non-violent drug offence was commuted by the President.

Opinions differed on how much damage Mr Biden’s remarks would cause. “He has just blown his campaign,” said Oliver Mcgee, an Africanamerican who served in the Clinton administration but has since become a Trump supporter. “He has just insulted black people in this country. Nobody would let Trump get away with that.”

Christopher Galdieri, a political analyst at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, said he believed the row would die down.