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Cleanup on aisle Biden: A handful of self-inflicted mistakes pull him off-message

07 August 2020
Dan Ackermann

After two gaffes and a low blow from President Trump questioning his faith, Joe Biden spent Thursday evening off his own message — clarifying comments and responding to attacks.

Why it matters: Biden’s responses reflect what we could see a lot more of in the next few months — cringeworthy comments and Trump smears, smacking into each other and pulling the Democrat off course.

  • Biden's campaign had vowed to be "laser-focused" on Trump's handling of the virus.

What's happening: Biden released two long statements last night — one walking back comments he made about African Americans during a virtual interview, and another defending against Trump’s charge that Biden "hurts God."

  • And he came under fire for a racially insensitive comment to a Black reporter.

During a series of interviews at a convention for Black and Hispanic journalists (NABJ/NAHJ), Biden said: "Unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly diverse attitudes about different things."

  • He was answering a question from an NPR reporter about how he would engage with Cuba if elected president: "You go to Florida, you find a very different attitude about immigration than you do in Arizona. So it’s a very diverse community."
  • That prompted a three-tweet clarification from Biden on Twitter around 9 p.m.: "In no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith — not by identity, not on issues, not at all."

Some Democrats are already worried about Biden’s tendency to say problematic things off the cuff, and what that could mean for debates.

  • A Democratic operative texted Axios with a link to the Biden tweet apology: "Homeboy can’t pick a white VP."

During the NABJ/NAHJ virtual session with reporters, a CBS reporter asked Biden whether he’s taken a cognitive test similar to the one Trump brags about.

  • "No, I haven’t taken a test," Biden said. Why the hell would I take a test? C'mon, man. That’s like saying, 'You — before you got on this program you took a test where you’re taking cocaine or not, what do you think? Huh? Are you a junkie?'"
  • Team Biden’s cleanup, per a campaign official: "It was a preposterous question deserving of a response that showed the absurdity of it all."

Reality check: Senility has become an open line of attack in the 2020 election, making it a totally fair question from any reporter. Asking a Black journalist if they’re a "junkie" is completely out of left field.

In Ohio yesterday, Trump said Biden would "hurt the Bible" and "hurt God" because he has "no religion, no anything."

  • Biden released a nearly 300 word statement defending his faith, which gave him a chance to hit Trump: "My faith teaches me to welcome the stranger, while President Trump tears families apart. My faith teaches me to walk humbly, while President Trump teargassed peaceful protestors."

Between the lines: The virtual campaign limited Biden’s opportunities for awkward missteps, and he’s been able to ignore most of Trump’s smears.

  • Now, it's on.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.