'That was not what the vice president said': Sheila Jackson Lee denies Biden meant 'you ain't black' comment
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee threw her support behind former Vice President Joe Biden after he said black people who don't vote for him aren't actually black.
During an interview with Fox News host Bret Baier, the Texas Democrat pushed back on the claim that Biden made a major gaffe when he told The Breakfast Club host Charlamagne Tha God on Friday morning that "if you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black."
"That was not what the vice president said in terms of those words, and if we had listened to the earlier conversation, we would know that the vice president wants to put his record forward. He knows that everyone has their own historical, moral standing on the color of their skin," Lee said. "He also believes in the history of our people, and I don't believe, in any way, that he undermined who we are and what we are."
Lee said it was a smart move for Biden to appear on the morning show despite his controversial comments.
"I am delighted that the vice president was on The Breakfast Club," Lee said. "It is a dynamic show with a very probative, questioning host. That was the right thing to do. Then, as well, I think the right thing to do was to own up that it might not have been as funny as we might have thought originally, meaning the vice president, because it was done in jest."
When Baier read a critical response from BET founder Robert Johnson that accused Biden of arrogance, Lee said that Biden's record on predominately black issues has been transparent.
"I believe he's answered, over the last 24 hours, that he's going to fight every single day to earn the vote of every single African American of all generations, and that's the way a presidential candidate should put their candidacy forward," Lee said.
Lee then pivoted to President Trump, criticizing him for what she alleged to be demeaning comments about the black community.
"What I like about the vice president is I don't have to look for his record, his record is present," Lee said. "This is a great opportunity for the vice president to show his record and to contrast it with an individual, his opponent, that has called African countries 's-hole countries,' that have not hired African Americans, and finally, I would say, that has made it a point of targeting with raw words, African American women."
Lee wore a face mask at the beginning of the interview to reinforce the importance of wearing a mask even though she was sitting comfortably at home.
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