Biden Slams Trump’s 'Black Jobs' Remarks, Questions His Support From Rap Artists

Amid calls for him to step aside in favor of a different Democratic nominee, President Joe Biden says he’s "1000 percent" committed to his re-election.

Speaking with Speedy Morman for Complex’s original series 360 With Speedy, Biden, who was last week the subject of a widely cited op-ed from actor and "lifelong Democrat" George Clooney, compared remarks about him being "too old" for the job to the claims of being "too young" that he says he heard at the beginning of his political career.

"I gotta finish the job," 81-year-old Biden said in the new interview, which was filmed on July 12, one day prior to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. According to Biden, he's "gotten more done than almost any president has in one term." Furthermore, he added, his administration has "more to do."

As for Trump, Biden reiterated his stance that the former Apprentice host is a "real danger to the country." He also offered a laugh when asked about the support Trump has received from some artists, particularly the handful who have made headlines for such antics in the rap space.

"Well, I’m not sure he has that allegiance, number one," Biden said. "Number two, if you look at his record in terms of African Americans and minorities, it’s abysmal the way he handles everything. The answer is, I don’t know if he has hip-hop artists that are supportive of him. But I know that I got started in politics because of the African American community. When I was a kid, I was a young man in high school and college, my state was segregated by law. I got involved in the movement. And the reason I got elected when I was 29 from a very modest background was because of the Black community."

Later, Trump's widely criticized (and just as widely mocked-via-memes) "Black jobs" remark from last month's debate was brought up by Speedy, who jokingly asked the current POTUS to define the term.

"A Black job is the same as a white job, the same as any other job," Biden said. "But you know what he means by Black jobs. He means menial labor. That’s what he thinks. He thinks he’s gonna sell golden shoes or sneakers. … There’s a reason why we are the most advanced nation in the world, the most progressive nation in the world, and why our economy is the biggest. We’re the only nation in the world that isn’t xenophobic."

Elsewhere, Biden was asked directly if he himself identifies as a Zionist (he does) and was pressed on the still-going-strong criticism his administration has faced over its support of Israel amid ongoing violence in Palestine. Meanwhile, when asked to name something he thinks Trump could do well if he were to return to the White House, Biden made it quite clear that he believes there is no genuine answer to that question other than, quite simply, nothing.

"I’m not being facetious," he said. "I can’t think of a single thing. I’m serious. Look what his objective is. It is totally anti-democratic."

See the full discussion up top.

In his aforementioned op-ed, Clooney, whose history of Democratic fundraising efforts is well-documented, praised Biden for his prior political prowess but urged him to step aside ahead of the 2024 election.

"We are not going to win in November with this president," Clooney said in the New York Times piece.

This past Saturday, a 20-year-old shooter struck Trump in his right ear during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. In a statement later that day, Biden confirmed he had been briefed on the shooting and was "praying for" his rival.

"There’s no place for this kind of violence in America," Biden said. "We must unite as one nation to condemn it."