Symone, it is always good to see you. It’s been a while.
I know that you’ve said that, you know, that the vice president was just —
SYMONE SANDERS, SENIOR ADVISOR, BIDEN CAMPAIGN: I mean I think the last time we talked we were in South Carolina.
So, yes, always good to see you.
TUR: I think — I think we were back, you know, back in the normal times. The before times.
I know you’ve called what the Bidens — what the vice president said a joke. Let me just read you what Charlamagne (INAUDIBLE) gave — a statement that he gave to media. And I want to get you to respond.
He says, we have been loyal to Democrats for a long time. Black people have invested a lot into that party and the return on investment has not been great, he wrote. As Biden said in our brief interview when I asked him if Dems owe the black community, absolutely was his answer. So let’s see what you got. Votes are quid pro quo. You can’t possibly want me to fear Trump more than I want something for my people.
SANDERS: So, Katy, let me just be really clear. In the tweet that I put out, I said that the vice president’s comments at the end of that interview, which Ali Vitali definitely alluded to, and noted the tone of the interview at the end were said in jest. But I want to be clear about what he was saying.
And what Vice President Biden was saying is, he will put his record and his track record up with the African-American community and in the African-American community up against Donald Trump any single day, period. There is no comparison.
But Charlamagne makes an important point. And I encourage folks to go and look at the entirety of the 18 minute interview that Charlamagne and Vice President Biden had, because if you do, they engage in very interesting conversation.
Vice President Biden talks about the need to make sure that we are investing in the African-American community. He talks about tenants of his Biden plan for black America. They talk about criminal justice reform. It’s very wide-ranging.
And as Charlamagne alludes to in his own statement is that he asked Vice President Biden about the commitment that African-American voters have to the Democratic Party. And they engaged in that conversation.
So the reality is, if the question people have is, does Vice President Biden believe that he has to earn the votes of black voters, of Latino voters, of young people, of progressives, of women, of working class folks, of blue collar voters in this country, absolutely.
He earned the votes of folks in this primary, in the Democratic primary. Black voters especially. And he expects and will do the same thing he expects of his campaign, to do in same thing in this general election. So we’re not taking anything for granted.
TUR: He hasn’t earned the vote for some younger black voters, under 30 black voters. Not all, but some who — or a good portion of them who wanted to go for Bernie Sanders instead of him.
People who thought that there needed to be more fundamental change in this country and maybe felt a little bit like maybe Charlamagne did, which is that Democrats haven’t really stood up for black voters as much as they had promised in the past and wanted somebody who they thought could affect that change with Bernie Sanders.
So how do you — how do you target those voters? How do you say to them, hey, listen, you might not have voted for me in the primary, but I’m the presumptive Democratic nominee.
And here is what I’m going to do for you. Here’s how I’m going to fix the wrongs and the ills that you see in society. Here is how I will affect that systematic, that fundamental change that younger black voters are craving.
SANDERS: Well, Katy, I’m smiling because those are things that Vice President Biden has actually said. Look, we believed in the primary, and we believe in the general, that you have to meet people where they are and speak directly to what folks are experiencing, especially right now with the coronavirus.
Black people, older voters, younger people, younger black people are some of the most hardest hit by this virus in terms of the economy, in terms of the loss that they have seen from family members, friends, and co-workers who have lost their lives to the virus, but also folks’ livelihood.
So these are the kinds of things that Vice President Biden is just not talking about, but, frankly, making commitments about that — laying a foundation for what he would be doing as president.
And, frankly, it stands in stark contrast to what we’ve seen from this White House, from this president and Donald Trump.
Look, Donald Trump was in Detroit just yesterday promising to build a historically black college and university. I don’t know how you build a historically black college and university. It’s antithesis to the fact that it’s historic. It’s pandering.
And so what we have done, Vice President Biden came out a couple weeks ago with a plan for black America that speaks directly to a plan for housing, to a plan for health care, to — addressing the health inequities in our society, a plan for small business, a plan for making sure that black business owners and minority owned businesses are moved to the front of the line for the relief that they need given the coronavirus, a plan for environmental justice that we’re going to expand on, a plan to address criminal justice. Gun violence in our communities, not just mass shootings that we see on the news, but the everyday gun violence that happens across the country.
A plan to address what’s happening in prosecutors’ offices. Vice President Biden’s criminal justice reform plan calls for a task force to address prosecutorial discretion. The list goes on.
And so no one is saying that we — folks should blindly give their vote. I wrote an article in “Essence” magazine about a year and a half ago that said folks — two years ago that said folks should not do just that.
So politicians and individuals have to do the work to earn the vote. And Vice President Biden is doing the work. And we’re going to continue to do the work. That’s what this is about, Katy.
But we have put our plans on the table. We have laid a foundation. We challenge Donald Trump to do the same.
CHUCK TODD, MSNBC ANCHOR: Symone, I want to play for you, you know, you’ve heard — there’s been criticism from Republican Senator Tim Scott. Perhaps you’re not surprised by that. But I want you to listen to what Patrick Gaspard said, who was Barack Obama’s political director in the White House in his first term.
Take a listen to what he said on the comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK GASPARD, FORMER AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH AFRICA UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: He should be able to point to an astounding record as vice president, which saw black unemployment reach its lowest levels. And black wealth reached its highest level under the Obama-Biden administration.
However, Vice President Biden is in no position to determine who is black enough or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: And, Symone, let me — let me put the question to you this way. I know you have Joe Biden’s record and you have a long list of when he goes off the cuff he seems to speak with sort of an older generation stereotype at times in some of this stuff.
When you’ve been around him, what would be your explanation to someone who might actually (ph) —
SANDERS: Chuck, I’m not going to do this with you.
TODD: Why does this happen?
SANDERS: Chuck, I’m not going to do this. Well, I’m not going to do this because — Chuck, I’m not going to do this, because let me just be really clear, Vice President Biden absolutely has a respect level for all people around him, for voters across this country, young people, older voters, voters of color, black people, Latino voters, indigenous, Asian-American Pacific Islander.
So I’m not going to even traffic in any hypothetical conversation about if he is sensitive enough. Look, there are real issues that we have to address in this country. And Vice President Biden has been speaking directly to the voters, even well before the coronavirus crisis, about those issues. He is going to meet people where they are.
The fact that we can even talk about an interview on “The Breakfast Club” is because Vice President Biden went there to have that conversation. And if you watched the interview, they talk about the fact that they need to talk some more, that Charlamagne says he should come to New York.
And so this isn’t a question about whether — this isn’t — this isn’t a question about whether Vice President Biden has the sensitivity. This is truly a question about, in this race, what we have is a question about leadership, about who is ready to lead and able to lead for all Americans, but who also has a plan for those folks, who can put their money where their mouth is, put their plans where their mouth is and not just offer lip service to a community.
And Vice President Biden’s record speaks to that. He’s not offering lip service. He’s offering results. And that stands in a stark contrast into what we’re seeing from this White House.
TODD: All right.
SANDERS: Look, I know President Trump and his allies like to talk a lot about their criminal justice reform efforts. They have yet to allocate one penny from their budget to the First Step Act.
Let’s put our money where our mouth is. Let’s not talk about platitudes. Let’s talk about the plans that we have and how we turn those plans into actionable items.
Joe Biden has led when it comes to a recovery for Americans. I take it (ph) back to The Recovery Act. And he will do so in the Biden recovery. And that is a recovery that will specifically speak directly to the African-American community.
TODD: Symone Sanders with the Biden campaign. Let me echo what Katy said, it’s been a while but it’s good to see you, at least virtually.
SANDERS: Always good to see you all. Be back soon.
