Reacting to the growing number of Democratic lawmakers who have publically called for President Joe Biden to step aside for another 2024 presidential nominee, the Rev. Al Sharpton warned on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," that the party is in danger of losing Black voters.
Speaking with co-host Willie Geist, Sharpton noted that the overwhelming number of the lawmakers who have taken that stand are white, which he suggested is indicative of a tone-deaf party.
Asked about the possibility of Biden stepping aside, Sharpton replied, "I'm hearing it, yes, but I'm also hearing, not so fast because, if not Biden, then how do we do a transition that doesn't put us in a more dangerous position?"
"I was in Milwaukee yesterday doing a eulogy for a Black man killed by some hotel guards," he recalled. "People in an uproar about that are saying to me, you cannot win Wisconsin without Milwaukee and Black turnout. And they were saying to me, well, we have questions about Biden's age, but where do we go? Are they going to try to undermine Kamala Harris?"
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"So, I think that if we're talking a coalition, you've got to remember the basic roots of that coalition: Blacks, Latinos, and labor," he continued. "You can't just take for granted, we're going to go where some people just want to go and abandon someone who has been with us."
"I looked at the press conference last night and said, where are the Black reporters?" he told the MSNBC host. "I mean, we're looking at all whites questioning Biden, and Black voters are supposed to get in line? I think that a lot of the people that are stepping out there taking things for granted. You notice that maybe only one member of the Congressional Black Caucus has said Biden ought to step aside."
"Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-SC) will be on [MSNBC's] 'Politics Nation' with me tomorrow night. I'll be guided a lot by what he has to say," he remarked. " Don't forget, it was the stonewall of the Black voter and then the Latino vote that put Biden in nomination. And for us to be left out of t these discussions I think is offensive and elitist."
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MSNBC 07 12 2024 07 12 50 youtu.be