Jay Weber Show transcript 5-20-24 8:30am
So- Joe Biden spoke at the Morehouse college commencement this weekend-
Morehouse is an historical black college, of course, and it was chosen because the Biden handlers thought it would be ‘safer ground’ for Biden-
The untold story here-is that the Biden campaign and policy teams-both-want to keep the president away from college campuses this spring because so many of them had pro-Hamas tent camps popping up in the final weeks of the year-and many still do.
Even though Biden’s support among young voters has bottomed out- they haven’t wanted Biden doing commencement speeches or campaign stops at colleges, which is where all the lefty young people are, considering it too risky.
Not in terms of any personal danger to Biden, but in terms of the visuals and media optics of having hundreds of young people protesting around -and shouting down- the president as he speaks.
So-Morehouse. Safe, private, black college. Biden needs to boost his standing among young, black voters too- so great. We’ll do Morehouse.
We’ll be welcomed there.
It turned out: ‘not so much, no’.
Instead- deep divisions developed on campus surrounding Biden’s appearance.
And it surprised Biden staffers, who expected to be greeted with open arms and have the college bend over backward for Biden-in terms of extra security, accommodations, creating that ‘safe space’ for a Biden address, so he can give it in a bubble and pretend he’s not controversial.
Instead- this took weeks of wrangling and infighting and convincing and discussion- to get it all worked out ahead of time.
Bottom line: Biden’s harmed the country so badly that even young, bright, black, liberal college kids and their bright, black, liberal college professors, really didn’t want president Biden there, ‘marring their graduation day.
But-even that vote was controversial enough on campus-and in Georgia-that the school had to put out a statement saying ‘ he’s not getting this honor because of his politics. Or recent political events. It’s how we honor our headlining speakers.’
That’s interesting to me: that Morehouse leaders felt the need to say publicly: we’re honoring the guy with the honorary degree-because- that’s the tradition- don’t read anything more into it-
Almost as if they are reluctantly giving it to him, no?
The Biden white house couldn’t have been happy about that clarification ahead of time.
There-had been-several student protests over Israel on the Morehouse campus this spring-and so a number of students popped up this weekend still blasting Biden and America’s role in that conflict. They were demanding Biden’s invite be rescinded, etc.
And you can say, ‘that’d happen on any campuses, but...Morehouse? Really?
I don’t know.
And it would take-this level? -of effort to calm and head off any mass protests ahead of time?
And to have a Democrat president speak at a historically black college?
It took this level of pre-planning to fool the public into thinking Biden was welcome there. And generated this much angst?
Come on. This isn’t normal.
It suggests that Biden’s re-election chances with young black voters -really have changed-since 2020.
The polls show that older black voters are still as loyal to Biden and the dem party as they ever have been, for the most part, but younger black voters are more disillusioned.
photo credit: Getty Images.
audio version here > A sure sign Biden is in trouble with young black voters