Joe Biden Once Referred to Barack Obama as a “Bright and Clean” African-American

The occasional quote ascribed to President Joe Biden on X is an old one from before he was president when Biden reportedly referred to then-Senator Barack Obama. Several tweets claimed that Biden described Obama as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, bright, clean, and a nice-looking guy.” Biden indeed said this, almost 13 years before he was elected president.

As reported by CNN , he said at the time, “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” On January 31, 2007, then-Senator Joe Biden officially launched his bid for the presidency. However, at the time he was forced to justify comments he made to the New York Observer that were critical of his Democratic opponents.

Biden issued a statement later, “I deeply regret any offense my remark in the New York Observer might have caused anyone. That was not my intent and I expressed that to Sen. Obama.” Obama responded to Biden’s remark with a written statement, “I didn’t take Sen. Biden’s comments personally, but they were historically inaccurate. African-American presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun, and Al Sharpton gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns, and no one would call them inarticulate.” Later, on a conference call with reporters, Biden said that Obama had understood what he had meant. Biden said, “This is a guy who’s come along in a way that’s captured the imagination of the country in a way that no one else has. That was the point of everything I was saying.”

Biden’s first presidential attempt 20 years ago was undone when proof revealed that he copied a speech from British politician Neil Kinnock. Biden attacked his opponents in an interview with the New York Observer, using strong language on the war. He questioned John Edwards’ (D-N.C.) plan to rapidly withdraw soldiers from Iraq, saying, “OK, John, what about the chaos that will ensue? Do we have any interest, John, left in the region?” Also, Senator Clinton’s proposal to limit the number of American troops already in Iraq: “Cap our troops, and withdraw support for the Iraqis. Now that’s a really good idea. I’m not being a wise guy here, no, no. Think about it.”

A new national survey published Wednesday shows President Biden behind all three main GOP presidential candidates. In a poll done by Marquette Law School, Trump was favored by 52% of registered voters over President Joe Biden, while Ron DeSantis was favored by 51% of voters over the president. Former South Carolina governor and current Republican frontrunner Nikki Haley leads Joe Biden 55% to 45%. As reported by Fox News , among registered voters who say they are undecided between Trump and Biden, Trump has grabbed the lead for the first time this year, according to a survey conducted by Marquette University. Previously, Biden had a 55% to 42% advantage in this area, but now Trump is ahead of him by a score of 53% to 47%.