On Wednesday, President Biden delivered remarks to a meeting of national union leaders while trying to recover ground and ease concerns within the Democratic Party about his ability to serve a second term. Speaking to the executive council of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest federation of trade unions, Biden addressed a wide variety of labor-related topics.
However, at one point during the event, Biden grabbed the microphone and went on a rant about why diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are good for the United States. RNC research shared the clip on social media, writing, “Biden randomly grabs the mic and starts rambling about DEI as the feed abruptly cuts and reporters are herded out of the room.”
Upon reclaiming the microphone from the female host of the meeting, Biden makes some indecipherable comments, presumably about his “promise” to advance DEI-related causes. Biden proclaims, “More minorities, more women, more labor. I’m serious! Think about it!” The president goes on to say, “That’s who we are, that’s why we’re strong. We’re diverse, we’re strong. We’ve gotta stop looking at it like it’s a problem. It’s an asset.”
As Biden trails off in his monologue, the camera pans out of focus before the press were reportedly ushered out of the room. The meeting with the union leaders also overlapped with the NATO summit in Washington, which Biden would later attend. In his opening comments, Biden compared the union crowd to his “domestic NATO.
The president said, “And I think you as my domestic NATO, not a joke, not a joke.” He further applauded the unions for their role in the economy and representing the working class. Biden added, “You’re the ones, you’re the ones beyond me. And you know, you know this better than I do beyond me. It’s all about whether or not we’re going to grow the economy, whether we’re going to give working people a shot.”
In recent years, social causes such as DEI have encapsulated the interest of the left. As a result, it is a topic that Biden has focused on significantly throughout his administration, where he has often touted how diverse his administration is. “The values of diversity, equity and inclusion are the core strength of America,” he previously said. “That’s why I’m proud to have the most diverse administration in history to tap into the full talents of our country.”
Biden has also suggested that his administration’s diversity, not makeup of competent individuals, is responsible for its purported success. “I promised you when I was president, I would have an administration that looked like America. We have more African Americans, we have more women, we have more minorities in our administration than any other administration in all of history,” the president asserted. “That’s why we’re doing so d— well.” Watch his comments on DEI below:
President Biden also bragged about his “commitment” to appointing a black woman on the Supreme Court, seemingly valuing race over competence. “I kept another commitment to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States of America,” he said. “People are now realizing how critical those Supreme Court appointments are.”
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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