When then-Democratic hopeful Joe Biden stopped by Charlamagne tha God’s popular radio program back in 2020, he made headlines for his ill-fated remark that anyone struggling to decide whether to support him or Donald Trump in the general election “ain’t black.”
As it turned out, Trump gained modest ground with black voters in the 2020 election and polls indicate he may once again do so in 2024. Perhaps that is why Charlamagne has been getting pressured during various stops on his book tour to formally endorse Biden.
On Thursday’s show, he joined Megyn to discuss his new book Get Honest or Die Lying and why he is “not a fan” of the incumbent president.
Flashback to 2020
Biden sat down with Charlamagne tha God on The Breakfast Club in May 2020 for what turned out to be a somewhat contentious talk. When one of Biden’s aides tried to end the interview, Charlamagne said, “You can’t do that to black media.”
After Biden claimed he walks out on “white media” too because his wife, Jill Biden, has someplace to be, Charlamagne asked the former vice president to come back for another interview because “we’ve got more questions.”
That is when Biden put his foot in his mouth. “You’ve got more questions,” he replied. “Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
“It don’t have nothing to do with Trump. It has to do with the fact, I want something for my community,” Charlamagne responded. Biden’s retort: “Take a look at my record, man.”
Charlamagne on The View
Charlamagne ended up endorsing Biden anyway, but he does not appear poised to do so this time around. When he visited The View on Wednesday, he was asked on several occasions to formally lend his support to the president.
“You endorsed Joe Biden back in 2020, but this time around you say you’re not going to endorse anybody. Charlamagne, now is not the time, in my opinion, to sit this one out,” Sonny Hostin said at the beginning of the discussion. “Why not endorse Biden?”
Charlamagne said he had seen the hosts push other guests to endorse Biden and was not interested in playing that game. “Why do y’all need us to say this if we don’t feel comfortable saying it,” he asked. “The reality is I think both candidates are trash, but I am going to vote in November, and I’m going to vote my best interest, and I’m going to vote for who I think can preserve democracy.”
He noted that “it feels like his base is pretty pissed off” at Biden, but he still seemed to see the choice pretty starkly. “I’m sitting here telling my listeners that you have somebody out there who is a threat to democracy, you have somebody who said they want to suspend the Constitution to overthrow the results of an election,” he said. “You saw this person try to lead an attempted coup of this country, and I’m telling people that this guy’s a threat to democracy.”
“There’s only two candidates out there, so if I’m saying that about this individual, the choice is clear, right?” Charlamagne added.
Biden v. Trump 2024
Given what Charlamagne expressed about Trump and Biden on The View, Megyn asked why he wouldn’t give his endorsement. “Simply because, you know, I’m not a fan,” he said. “I just think it’s kind of strange where we are as a culture and as a society where it’s almost like there is either one of two extremes and if you’re a person who just simply chooses to be objective, simply chooses to look at both candidates and say, ‘Hey, I think there’s some right things here, some wrong things there’… [it] bothers people.”
Charlamagne said his lack of satisfaction with Biden and Trump has led him to explore third party alternatives this election and previous ones. “I’ve looked at all of them,” he said. “After President Obama, I explored everything. I explored conservative, I explored the Green Party, I explored Democrats. I feel like that’s what you should do as an American citizen.”
Later in the discussion, Megyn and Charlamagne debated some of the specifics of Trump and Biden when it comes to the economy, overreach, and leadership. It seemed clear that he could not possibly support Trump – in large part because of the events surrounding January 6 – but he does understand where his supporters are coming from on some issues.
Ultimately, Charlamagne had a message for both major parties. “If these parties want people to be more energized about their candidates, maybe they should just run better candidates,” he concluded. “It’s not rocket science.
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Charlamagne tha God by tuning in to episode 800 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.