Opinion: Tone-deaf, Biden buys Black kids fried chicken-accused of pandering and racist trope

Joe Biden buys black family fried chickenPhoto byScreenshot from X formerly Twitter

[U.S Politics] On February 12, 2024, President Joe Biden shared a video of himself having dinner with a black family.

A few weeks ago, I stopped to grab some food and eat with Eric and his sons, Chrisitan and Carter. From talking about student loan forgiveness to basketball and business club, I loved our conversations. -Joe Biden

While the dinner which included fried chicken from a local restaurant may have been intended to show the president's support for the Black community, the optics surrounding the dinner did not sit well with some who accused President Biden of pandering as well as serving up the fried chicken stereotype, an anti-black racist trope that has been used to demean and dehumanize Black people for centuries.

X ( formerly Twitter) user Amiri King echoed many of the responses to the video posting "the most atrocious pandering we’ve ever seen."

X User Bohica wrote "Nothing like pandering to voters during Black History month"

The fact that Biden brought the meal to the family, while eating a hamburger himself, has also been seen as insensitive and tone-deaf.

According to BET, polls have suggested Biden is losing support among 2024 Black voters and the Biden-Harris reelection campaign is trying to keep Black voters in their camp by launching outreach and Ad campaigns especially in battleground states.