Kentucky’s first Black Attorney General, Daniel Cameron (R), used his speech at the Republican National Convention to level harsh criticism against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden over his record and history of controversial statements.
“I think often of my ancestors who struggled for freedom,” Cameron said. “I also think of Joe Biden who says, ‘If you aren’t voting for me, you ain’t Black.'”
“Who argued that Republicans would put us back in chains. Who says there is no diversity of thought in the Black community. Mr. Vice President, look at me, I am Black. We are not all the same, sir,” he continued.
“I am not in chains. My mind is my own. And you can’t tell me how to vote because of the color of my skin,” he added.
Cameron continued to blast Biden as a “backwards thinker.”
“There’s no wisdom in his record or plan, just a trail of discredited ideas and offensive statements,” he said.
Watch the video below:
"Mr. Vice president, look at me, I am black. We are not all the same, sir. I am not in chains. My mind is my own. And you can't tell me how to vote because of the color of my skin." – @DanielCameronAG #RNC2020 pic.twitter.com/5WbgI9PddG
— Francis Brennan (@FrancisBrennan) August 26, 2020
Cameron referenced a series of controversial comments Biden has made over the past ten years.
In 2012, Biden was criticizing the then-Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for his stance on rolling back banking regulations while speaking before a mixed audience. Biden said, “He’s going to let the big banks once again write their own rules – unchain Wall Street!”
“They’re going to put you all back in chains,” he added.
Former President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign attempted to clean up the statement by saying that Biden was “using a metaphor to talk about what’s going to happen” if Romney won the presidential election.
Earlier this year, Biden appeared on the New York City radio show “The Breakfast Club,” where he said, “If you have a problem figuring out whether me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
“Take a look at my record, man. I extended the Voting Rights Act 25 years. I have a record that is second-to-none. The NAACP’s endorsed me every time I’ve run. I mean, come on. Take a look at the record,” he added.
Biden later acknowledged the comment was a mistake. He told ABC News’ Robin Roberts during an interview, “I shouldn’t have said it.”
He continued:
“But, the truth is, there’s a fundamental difference between Donald Trump and me on the issue of race across the board. … I was trying to make the point that this is a man who spent his entire career denigrating African Americans. Denigrating them, continuing to denigrate them. To do nothing but go after race and inflame it. Pour, you know, gasoline on the fire.”
And earlier this month, Biden was addressing the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
He said, “What you all know, but most people don’t know, unlike the African-American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community, with incredibly different attitudes about different things.”
Biden later tried to clarify his remarks, “In no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith—not by identity, not on issues, not at all.”
