NBC’s Andrea Mitchell assured viewers Tuesday that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden’s “you ain’t black” gaffe was the predictable result of the coronavirus shutdown.
The network’s anchor blamed a prolonged quarantine for a widely-panned radio interview with radio host Charlamagne tha God last week, when Mr. Biden questioned the authenticity of black Americans whose political support is up for grabs.
“I’ll tell you, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or for Trump, then you ain’t black,” the former vice president said May 22.
Biden campaign senior adviser Symone Sanders went on to refer to the moment as nothing more than “jest.”
“Campaigning from his basement or back porch has its drawbacks,” Ms. Mitchell offered over the weekend. “Denying Biden the retail politics he relishes and he can get rusty like this misstep with radio host Charlemagne Tha God.”
The media watchdog NewsBusters said the segment was further proof of journalistic malfeasance, given that ABC, CBS and NBC offered roughly one minute of coverage to the incident.
Ms. Mitchell also attracted the attention of media watchdogs in March when covering Mr. Biden’s assertion that an auto plant employee was “full of s—-” and acting like “a horse’s ass” during a face-to-face inquiry about gun rights.
The anchor described the “full of s—-” moment as two men who were “mixing it up” on the campaign trail in Michigan.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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