Biden To Talk With BET’s Ed Gordon About Black Issues
President Joe Biden is set to discuss issues affecting the Black community during a one-on-one interview special with BET News’ Ed Gordon, set to air on July 17. The special, officially titled Black America Votes: The Biden Interview, fits in with BET’s larger We Vote campaign, which is aimed at increasing civic engagement and voter participation among Black Americans.
According to a BET press release, “In this critical stage of his re-election campaign, President Biden will sit down with award-winning journalist Ed Gordon for his first on-camera interview on BET and speak directly to Black America. The conversation will focus on critical issues impacting our community and discuss why Black Americans should continue to support his candidacy amidst growing public concerns and calls for him to withdraw.”
The release continued, “At this crucial moment, it is imperative for President Biden to directly address the concerns of Black voters and articulate his vision for the future. This exclusive half-hour special will discuss the growing concern over President Biden’s fitness for office, the state of the economy for Black families, the Project 2025 conservative policy agenda, and the fight to engage Black voters.”
Although this is the first time that President Biden has utilized BET to speak directly to the concerns of everyday Black Americans, it is not the first time Biden has sought out Black reporters to assuage doubts about his mental acuity. However, an interview conducted with Philadelphia-based WURD Radio became mired in controversy when it was revealed that the Biden campaign had pre-authorized questions which the host asked on the show, a compromise of journalistic integrity.
According to The Hill, earlier during the week of July 8, the station announced that host Andrea Lawful-Sanders and WURD “mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately” before saying that the host had basically gone rogue, saying Lawful-Sanders arranged the interview “without knowledge, consultation or collaboration with WURD management.”
The BET interview, it should be noted, does not appear to be in the same vein as the interviews conducted by WURD Radio and another outlet in Wisconsin, which also received a set of pre-approved questions from the Biden campaign. However, the BET News special will be 30 minutes long, and according to the press release, BET will be releasing clips and an interview transcript at a later date.
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