Biden warns Democrats not to take African American voters for granted as he recalibrates campaign
Democratic candidates clash ahead of the New Hampshire primary
The Democrats’ top presidential contenders clashed over experience and electability in a fiery debate that tested the strength of a new front-runner, former Midwestern mayor Pete Buttigieg, and struggling former Vice President Joe Biden.
Former Vice President Joe Biden warned his fellow Democrats on Friday that the party should not take African American voters for granted in November's upcoming general election.
Biden, who himself is relying on African American voters to help him carry the South Carolina primary later this month, told ABC News late last week that "take it for granted that they’re going to show up."
"Look, the black community knows me and I know them. And I think we take it for granted much too much," Biden said. "My biggest concern about the African American community with the Democrats is: most of it was taken for granted. They just take it for granted that they’re going to show up."
In another interview with ABC on Sunday, Biden, however, touted his support among African American voters as he attempted to move on from his poor showing in last week’s Iowa Caucus.
BUTTIGIEG RISING: CANDIDATE HOPES TO GO TWO FOR TWO
Biden - who came in fourth on Iowa behind South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren – argued that his strong poll numbers mean that among African American voters he is still the favorite to win the Democratic nomination.
"No one has ever won the nomination without being able to get overwhelming support from the African American community either," Biden said during an appearance on ABC's "This Week." "So far, no one's doing that but me."
Biden, however, admitted while his poll numbers are strong in the early voting state of South Carolina – long seen as his campaign’s firewall – he is unlikely to win this upcoming week’s primary in New Hampshire. Sanders holds a commanding lead in polls in the Granite State although Buttigieg is nipping at his heels following his strong showing in Iowa.
The former vice president argued that to beat President Trump in November’s election, the Democrats have to pick a candidate who can bring minority voters to the ballot box.
"The thing that changes this election is that everybody in the Democratic Party is united on one thing, defeating Donald Trump,” he said. “In order to do that everybody knows you've got to bring out the black vote and the brown vote. You've got to be able to do it.”
BIDEN ZINGS BUTTIGIEG - SAYING 'THIS GUY'S NOT A BARACK OBAMA'
Possibly realizing that he will not beat Sanders in New Hampshire, Biden over the weekend focused much of his attacks on the surging Buttigieg – mocking his experience as a small city mayor and cutting down the comparisons Buttigieg has drawn to the last Democratic president, declaring: “This guy's not a Barack Obama.”
Biden's biting attacks on Buttigieg's relatively thin resume mark a new, more aggressive attempt to slow the momentum of the youngest candidate in the Democratic field. The 38-year-old emerged from Iowa in an effective tie with Sanders but faces questions about whether his eight years as mayor of South Bend, Indiana — a city of about 100,000 people — prepared him for the presidency.
“I do not believe we’re a party at risk if I’m the nominee,” Biden told voters in Manchester. “I do believe we’re a party at risk if we nominate someone who has never held a higher office than the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.”
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Biden's campaign is urgently trying to recalibrate, shaking up its senior leadership and signaling that the former vice president won't go down without a fight. On Saturday morning, the campaign posted an online video attacking Buttigieg that was one of the harshest intraparty broadsides of the Democratic primary.
The 90-second video compares Biden's record as vice president with Buttigieg’s service as mayor. While Biden helped President Barack Obama pass sweeping health care legislation and orchestrate a bailout of the auto industry, the ad says, Buttigieg was installing decorative lights on bridges and repairing sidewalks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
