NYC Black political clubs sticking with Biden after debate debacle
Despite growing calls from Democrats nationwide for President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race after an anxiety-inducing debate with ex-President Donald Trump, some Black supporters say they’re sticking with the incumbent come hell or high water.
“It’s crazy. Everyone has a bad day, and I feel he did well. Answered all the questions without all the energy he usually has because he was under the weather going into the debate,” said Londel Davis Jr., 70th Assembly District delegate to the Judicial Convention. “Barack Obama had the same thing: He had a bad showing and everyone was all scared and worried. In the next debate, he killed the guy. I think the same thing is going to happen.”
At Footprints Cafe, a Caribbean restaurant in Brooklyn, political enthusiasts—mostly Black and Brown older adults—from the Vanguard Independent Democratic Association (VIDA) and Unified Political Association (UPA) gathered to watch the highly anticipated presidential debate on Thursday night. A short survey revealed that most in attendance were hoping to see Biden deliver a “clear, sobering message” about populist policies, such as lowering insulin costs, abortion freedom, and student loan forgiveness, but also wanted him to dispel any speculation about his age and mental faculties declining.
There was a pretty big expectation that none of that would be happening, based on club leadership passing out a facetious bingo card at the start of the event. Options included “Trump makes a weird face” and “Biden whispers.”
A few raspy-voiced minutes into the debate, it was clear that the audience was disappointed but not entirely surprised by Biden’s performance. Even halfway through, as people began to leave the venue, mentally check out, or argue about the lack of fact-checking in regard to Trump’s rebuttals, very few wavered in their support for the 81-year-old incumbent.
“We cannot afford for our country to go back into the hands of a tyrant. Somebody that does not care about any of the national concerns that we have or the local concerns,” community leader Anthony Beckford said during a commercial break.
When the debate wrapped, a media storm complete with negative polling descended on the Biden campaign. Democrats openly and privately started speculating about how to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee by the time the convention will be held in August in Chicago. At this point in the national primaries, Biden has secured enough delegates to be the nominee and can only be unseated if he chooses to drop out of the running of his own volition.
“His performance was very, not reassuring after we kept hearing from his camp ‘oh, he’s sharp, he’s on point’ and everything but our eyes and ears are not lying to us,” said VIDA President Henry Butler, a firm Biden supporter. Butler said if a younger person were in question, the panic about age wouldn’t be so palpable.
“To this whole part about replacing him, the question Democratic voters have to ask themselves, and be realistic about this, [is] replace him with who? Who out there do they truly think can beat Trump?” Butler said. “I think they’re under this delusion, the super-left progressives, that if we throw a progressive in there, somehow they would win. They live in their own progressive silos in these big cities like New York, Philly, and Chicago, and LA, and Miami. That’s not America.”
Voters are placing unconventional bets on alternate presidential candidates, such as Governor of California Gavin Newsom, former First Lady Michelle Obama, current Vice President Kamala Harris, Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer, Governor of Pennsylvanis Josh Shapiro, and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. But nothing’s concrete yet.
Biden has said publicly that his age, getting over a cold, traveling extensively without rest, and other factors led to his weak showing at the debate. He hasn’t given any indication that he’s stepping down.
Manhattan Party Boss Keith L.T. Wright doubled down on sentiments that one debate, albeit a “horrible” one, doesn’t warrant calls for Biden to drop out. He said Black voters for Biden aren’t likely to waver, despite a small wave of younger voters defecting to the independent side or men to the Republican side.
“I am not calling for him to step aside. It all comes out in the wash,” Wright said. “Trump will be Trump and Biden will be Biden.”
Josue Pierre, one of the founding members of the Shirley Chisholm Democratic Club (SCDC) in Brooklyn, said that the agism people have against Biden should apply to Trump as well. He believes that his vote should go to the best policy-maker who can be seen as a national leader.
“Against Biden is a fellow that’s been convicted of a number of things; has said a number of disturbing things about not just minorities and immigrants, just policy-wise; things that make you wonder if he even believes in democracy,” said Pierre.
On July 1, the Supreme Court ruled that U.S. presidents are immune from prosecution for their “official” acts, directly affecting Trump’s court case in D.C. and delayed sentencing for his New York conviction.
The next debate between Biden and Trump is scheduled for September. Pierre hopes the second debate will be engaging and factual, with more of an emphasis on abortion, affirmative action, and economic recovery and low employment rates.
“I believe as folks start to pay attention, it’ll become clear who the best option is and that’s clearly Joe Biden,” Pierre said.
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