Black political leaders interviewed by Politico are split on whether former Vice President Joe Biden has to be "revolutionary" as he campaigns to be and is perhaps elected to replace President Trump. But they all agree he can't be the vague anti-Trump on race and criminal justice reform he has campaigned as so far.
Biden launched his campaign by promising to be an antidote to Trump's actions over the past four years, focusing on how Trump equated "both sides" of a neo-Nazi-attended rally in Charlottesville that left one counter-protester dead. While he's gone further to the left than former President Barack Obama when it comes to supporting the end of qualified immunity for police officers and banning chokeholds, he still is pushing to increase law enforcement funding and has rejected calls to "defund the police."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), a longtime lawmaker and civil rights leader of the 1960's, tells Politico that Biden will have to go further and force "frank, truthful, painstaking conversation" about America's systemic racism if elected. "I'm not sure if he has the understanding, but he has to become a transcendental president," Rush said. "The opportunity is here; the question is, can he rise up to it?" Read more at Politico.
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raidsIn the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classroomsPros and cons The devices could be major distractions
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
