OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden is being attacked after referring to the new governor of Maryland with what many believe was a racially charged term as he called him a “boy.”
“You got a hell of a new governor in Wes Moore, I tell ya,” he said in a speech on Wednesday in Lanham, Maryland to an audience of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union members.
“He’s the real deal, and the boy looked like he could still play,” he said. “He got some guns on him.”
Twitter users shredded the president for the term.
“President Biden on Wednesday referred to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who is Black, as ‘boy’ during his opening remarks to an audience of IBEW union workers. Dementia can’t even hide Joe Biden’s racism,” one Twitter user said.
President Biden on Wednesday referred to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who is Black, as "boy" during his opening remarks to an audience of IBEW union workers.
Dementia can’t even hide Joe Biden’s racism.
— TheTexasOne (@TexasRepublic71) February 16, 2023
“Of course Joe Biden called Black Maryland Governor Wes Moore, ‘boy.’ He called Barack Obama, ‘the first mainstream [Black man] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.’ And those are some of his *least* racist comments — let alone his policies,” another said.
Of course Joe Biden called Black Maryland Governor Wes Moore, “boy.” He called Barack Obama, “the first mainstream [Black man] who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”
And those are some of his *least* racist comments — let alone his policies.
— Dumisani Washington (@DumisaniTemsgen) February 16, 2023
“Can you imagine if a Republican said that ~ ~ Biden refers to Democrat Wes Moore — Maryland’s first Black governor — as ‘boy,’” another Twitter user said.
Can you imagine if a Republican said that ~ ~ Biden refers to Democrat Wes Moore — Maryland's first Black governor — as "boy." Credit: @RNCResearch pic.twitter.com/L7GNyNYIZm
— Mary (@matjendav4) February 16, 2023
“Biden called a black man ‘boy.’ This was not 50 years ago, it was today. He was talking about Maryland Gov Wes Moore. Where is the outrage from the media?” another said.
Biden called a black man "boy." This was not 50 years ago, it was today. He was talking about Maryland Gov Wes Moore.
Where is the outrage from the media?— TrueGrit (@MichaelTruGrit) February 15, 2023
“President Biden refers to black men as boys. He also said @BarackObama was ‘clean & articulate’ when he ran for president. How much longer must we listen to blatant racism before @CoriBush or @AyannaPressley or even @AOC calls him out on it?” former Republican Congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik said.
President Biden refers to black men as boys. He also said @BarackObama was “clean & articulate” when he ran for president.
How much longer must we listen to blatant racism before @CoriBush or @AyannaPressley or even @AOC calls him out on it?
pic.twitter.com/87Qddc6l0w— Kimberly Klacik (@kimKBaltimore) February 16, 2023
One of the definitions of the word “boy” from Merriam-Webster said “5. a dated, offensive : a male servant or an enslaved man
B disparaging + offensive —used to address a man of color and especially a Black man
NOTE: The deeply offensive use of the word boy to address an adult man of color has a strong association with sense 5a and is a term expressive of racist condescension.”
It comes after pundit and conservative commentator Mike Miller opined in a piece for Red State that he believes the unpopular vice president could be replaced, but President Biden would be met with accusations of being a misogynist and a racist even if she was replaced by another black woman.
Miller argued that her lack of any discernable skills, abhorrent speech-making, and general unpopularity could be a hindrance to the president, particularly due to his age, which would be 82 in 2024.
“Kamala Harris has been the best insurance policy against being dumped by the Democrat Party that feckless Joe Biden could have. And as his decision to seek re-election looms, Corn Pop’s pal — with a ‘little’ help from his Democrat ‘friends’ — must also decide whether Kamala Harris will be with him on the 2024 ticket if he does decide to run,” Miller said.
Miller went on to argue that he believes Harris should be replaced, but will not be, which could lead to a Republican victory unless they drop the ball.
But Miller is not the only person to doubt Harris’ ability to attract voters, with some of those naysayers coming from within her own party.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s team has responded to a report that claims that she questioned the political instincts of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Members of Congress, Democratic strategists, and other major party figures all said she had not made herself into a formidable leader,” The New York Times reported of the vice president on Monday.
The Times said that two Democrats it spoke to on the condition of anonymity said they had private conversations with Clinton, where she said that Harris lacked “the political instincts to clear a primary field.”
A spokesperson for Clinton did not deny that the former secretary of state had said those things about the vice president, but did say that the two women have “built and maintained a strong bond” about being a woman in a position of power and said that she is supportive of Harris.
The report on Clinton comes just after another report by The Washington Post that said some top Democrats are concerned about the vice president’s political prospects.
“Such concerns about Harris’s political strength were repeated often by more than a dozen Democratic leaders in key states interviewed for this story,” it said. “Harris’s tenure has been underwhelming, they said, marked by struggles as a communicator and at times near-invisibility, leaving many rank-and-file Democrats unpersuaded that she has the force, charisma, and skill to mount a winning presidential campaign.”
“People are poised to pounce on anything — any misstep, any gaffe, anything she says — and so she’s probably not getting the benefit of the doubt,” Jacquelyn Bettadapur, the leader of the Cobb County Democrats in Georgia said. She said that people “don’t know enough about what she’s doing” and “it doesn’t help that she’s not [that] adept as a communicator.”
“Every fiber in my body wants her to be president; everything I’ve ever fought for is for someone like her to be president,” a South Carolina Democratic strategist said on the condition of anonymity. “I think she’s a good person with a good heart who can lead the country. But I don’t know that the people who have to make that happen to feel that way right now. I don’t know that she has what it takes to get over the hump in our present environment.
