Radio host Charlamagne tha God said former Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden was suffering from "white entitlement and privilege" and his past stances didn't demonstrate support for African Americans.
In an interview with CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin on Friday, he said the support in the polls Biden has from black voters was more a nod to his being Barack Obama's vice president than anything else.
"I think it's more bro-ism than anything," he said. "When I look at Joe Biden and I look at the '94 crime bill and I look at the '88 crack laws, like that's not being in support of African Americans at all."
Charlamagne's show The Breakfast Club has been a popular stop for 2020 Democratic candidates, including South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), and Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.). However, he revealed Biden had offered to send a black surrogate instead of agreeing to appear on the program himself.
"That tells me a lot about what Joe Biden thinks about our audience," he said. "I think Joe Biden might be suffering from that same white entitlement and privilege and ego where he's just that old-school white male who feels like, 'Hey, man. They need me. I don't need them. Or, I got them already. So, yeah, my surrogate, my black male surrogate, you go talk to them.' That's not respect."
He said if Biden appeared on the show, he would ask him about his past support for controversial laws in the black community, as well as his remarks fondly recalling working with segregationist Dixiecrats.
"We all evolve ... I just haven't heard him say that those things were mistakes yet," Charlamagne said. "Why? Because that's that white male entitlement, privilege and ego that has been a detriment to us in this country, all of us, for a long time. Not just black and brown people. Women too."
"Those are people that historically kept their foot on our necks, and when I look at him, that's what I see," he added. "I see that white male entitlement, ego, and privilege, and I would like to crack that shell, so to speak."
Charlamagne hasn't held back in criticism of candidates on racial issues. He told Warren she reminded him of Rachel Dolezal—a white woman who falsely claimed to be black for years—over her claims of Native American ancestry. He also questioned Buttigieg about his decision to fire a black police chief in South Bend.