Black members of Congress with whom President Joe Biden has worked hard to forge a relationship say there will be trouble if either Biden or Kamala Harris don’t stay on the Democratic presidential ticket, with one warning of a “Blacklash.”
They will no longer sit idly by on the sidelines of an historic election they fear could have disastrous consequences for the people of their community, one veteran member of the Congressional Black Caucus told the Daily Beast Thursday.
“Before, people were just kind of, ‘Ok, there’s an election, I’m going to vote.’ But now, people are more mindful of what’s happening and there is a backlash developing because of the possibility that there may be a ticket that won’t consist of Harris or Biden, either one,” Rep. Al Green (D-TX) said in an interview in the Capitol. “There’s a desire to keep that ticket together.”
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Green, who has spent 19 years serving in the House of Representatives, said he has noticed “a turn” among Black Democrats on Capitol Hill, not one of whom has publicly called on Biden to abandon his race for a second term.
“And so there may be a backlash developing,” Green, 76, said. “If I may say, as it relates to the African-American community, I would call it a ‘Blacklash.’”
Green—whose new adage is “with Biden I’m ridin’ and Harris I’m sidin’”—suggested his views reflect those of many of his colleagues in the CBC, which is comprised of some five dozen members. “I speak for myself and everyone who agrees with me, and a lot of people do.”
Black Americans and Black lawmakers in particular were pivotal for Biden on his way to the White House in 2020. An endorsement from Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who at the time was the highest-ranking Black Democrat in Congress, was seen as especially helpful for Biden securing a win in that pivotal Southern state’s primary, and later in most of the Super Tuesday states.
Only a few CBC members have expressed doubts about the president publicly.
“The President did not just have one ‘bad debate,’” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) posted Thursday morning on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “The reality we saw with our own lying eyes is evidence of a deeper challenge.”
The statement was one example of a shift from earlier in the week, when Torres critiqued mixed messaging from Democrats publicly asking Biden to step aside.
Perhaps the most prominent Black Democrat in the country, former President Barack Obama, may be undermining Biden behind the scenes. Politico reported Thursday that Obama did not object to actor George Clooney’s Wednesday op-ed calling on Biden to step aside, while others in the former president’s orbit have delivered harsh criticism. Biden aides are reportedly annoyed about it.
Asked by The Daily Beast about such reports, Green replied, “I haven’t seen anything that causes me to conclude that that’s the case, so I really don’t have any comment that I can give you. I just haven’t seen the evidence of it.”
A Daily Beast survey of CBC members’ accounts on X found that more than a dozen have issued ringing endorsements of the embattled president.
“I support the President and look forward to him delivering four more years of amazing accomplishments for the hard-working people of Wisconsin,” Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) clarified after missing an opportunity to appear with him in Wisconsin.
Many of the affirmations came at the start of this week, soon after Biden held a Zoom call with the CBC and when reporters were chomping at the bit to figure out if lawmakers would continue supporting Biden.
“I want to make it clear: As a senior Democrat in the U.S. House, I fully support our President and Vice President, and we will defeat Trump again,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) wrote.
“My support for the Biden-Harris ticket is rock solid,” Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) posted.
“He said he’s not stepping down & so I, Congresswoman Jasmine Felicia Crockett, Esq., AM RIDING WITH BIDEN; Period!” exclaimed Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX).
“Every minute we spend debating the Democratic Party nominee narrative, we put ourselves more at risk for a second Trump term,” Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) argued. “The best solution is to rally around @JoeBiden now.
Others have delivered quieter support over the past two weeks, with about half of the caucus weighing in either explicitly or more subtly. Several CBC members have reshared posts from Biden, Harris and the presidential campaign, underlined the president’s policy accomplishments or gone on the attack against former President Donald Trump and especially Project 2025, a set of right-wing policy proposals he could implement if re-elected.
Those messages reflect the party line, which House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, now the highest-ranking member of the CBC, repeated at the start of a press conference on Thursday before reporters besieged him with questions about Biden’s prospects.
“This week has once again made clear that the extreme MAGA Republican agenda is to jam Trump’s Project 2025 down the throats of the American people,” Jeffries said.
His opening remarks lasted about two minutes. He spent the next 20 minutes fielding questions about Democratic concerns about Biden.Unlike many other CBC members, Jeffries did not give his full-throated support to the president. Instead, his reaction suggested that concerns about Biden’s fitness may continue to mount.
“We’re involved in an internal process that we take seriously,” he said. “And until that process is concluded, I’m not really in a position to comment.”
