Says Joe Biden said, “This country is doomed, not just because of African Americans, but because by 2040 this country is going to be minority white European."
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No, Biden didn’t say this country is doomed because of African Americans
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In December, then President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris had a private Zoom meeting with civil rights leaders to discuss prospective executive orders.
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Biden said if significant progress on racial equity cannot be made, this country is "doomed."
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A Newsmax journalist aired the comment out of context to make it sound as if he said something racist.
Some social media users believe they’ve found a bombshell video clip of President Joe Biden sharing racist rhetoric about African and Hispanic Americans.
In the video shared online, Newsmax journalist Grant Stinchfield is seen cutting to a clip from a Dec. 8 private Zoom meeting between Biden, then Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and a group of civil rights leaders.
Biden appears to say, "This country is doomed. It is doomed, not just because of African Americans, but because by 2040 this country is going to be minority white European. Hear me? Minority white European. And you guys are going to have to start working more with Hispanics, who will make up a larger portion of the population than y’all do."
The problem is that the video is flagrantry clipped to take Biden’s words out of context. The Intercept obtained and released the full Zoom video on Dec. 11.
Here’s all of what Biden said:
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"My overarching objective — if we cannot make significant progress on racial equity, this country is doomed. It is doomed, not just because of African Americans, but because by 2040 this country is going to be minority white European. Hear me? Minority white European. And you guys are going to have to start working more with Hispanics, who will make up a larger portion of the population than y’all do in terms of raw numbers."
The civil rights leaders on the Zoom meeting included the Rev. Al Sharpton, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, and Vanita Gupta, who was sworn in April 22 as the nation’s associate attorney general.
The group met with newly elected Biden and Harris to discuss prospective executive orders on issues such as voter access, and reversing an order from former President Donald Trump that put restrictions on some workplace diversity trainings and discussions centered on race and sex.
Featured Fact-check
Our ruling
An Instagram post showing a clip of then President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris claims to show Biden saying the country is "doomed" because of African Americans and Hispanic Americans, and that white Europeans will decrease in number.
The clip takes out of context that Biden said, "if we cannot make significant progress on racial equity, this country is doomed."
This deceptive editing leaves viewers with the impression that Biden made racist remarks to civil rights leaders. He did not. We rate this post False.
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Our Sources
Instagram post, April 22, 2021
YouTube, President-elect Biden’s Call with Civil Rights Leaders, Dec. 11, 2020
Tweet, Dec. 23, 2020
Tweet, Dec. 24, 2020
FordHarrison, What Does President Trump's Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping Mean for Government Contractors? Oct. 5, 2020
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No, Biden didn’t say this country is doomed because of African Americans
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