New ad takes aim at President Biden’s record on race
Texas Republican Congressman Wesley Hunt’s Hellfire PAC has made a six-figure ad buy in swing state cities with large black populations that will air during Thursday’s presidential debate on CNN. (Photo: Hellfire PAC)
First up on Fox: a key Republican lawmaker Donald Trump, who is spearheading former President Trump’s outreach campaign to Black voters, will launch a six-figure ad touting President Biden’s “real record on race” during Thursday’s CNN presidential debate.
The Hellfire PAC of first-term Texas congressman Wesley Hunt will air a 60-second ad on Fox News and CNN on Thursday night in major cities in key battleground states including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The ad, which highlights several of Biden’s controversial comments on race, is part of Hunt’s strategy to persuade black voters to support Trump in November.
“Joe Biden’s history as a politician reveals a pattern of making blatantly racist comments, writing and supporting discriminatory policies, and associating with individuals known to be segregationists,” Hunt said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
He announced that Hellfire PAC would launch a national campaign in several key states “to educate voters on Joe Biden’s true history on race.”
Screenshot from a Hellfire PAC ad questioning President Biden’s record on race. (Hellfire PAC)
The Hellfire PAC video begins with Biden’s own Vice President, Kamala Harrisquestioning his one-time opposition to school segregation. In an infamous moment from the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, then-rival candidate Harris said Biden, as a freshman senator in 1975, had worked with segregationist lawmakers to oppose “busing.”
“You also opposed busing with them,” Harris told Biden during the primary debate, referring to the two segregationist senators. “You know there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.”
Black GOP lawmakers hold ‘Congress, Cognac and Cigars’ event in key swing state
Representatives Wesley Hunt (left) and Byron Donalds (right) are campaigning to turn out black male voters for Donald Trump (middle). (Getty Images)
The advertisement further raises the question Biden’s record on civil rightsGiven his ties to segregationist Southern Democrats, including former senators James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmage of Georgia, Biden drew fire in 2019 when he spoke fondly of the “civility” of the old Senate and its ability to work with people he disagreed with, naming opponents of racial integration. In response to attacks from his then-Democratic rivals, Biden said he “doesn’t have a racist bone in my body.”
The video cites a number of embarrassing statements from Biden’s long political career, including a 2012 campaign event when the then-vice president told a group of Black voters that Republicans “will put you all back in chains.” In another insensitive gaffe cited from a 2019 campaign event in Iowa, Biden said that “poor kids are just as smart and talented as white kids.”
Trump campaign sets up shop in blue Philadelphia, battleground Pennsylvania
The Trump campaign is hosting a Black Business Roundtable in Atlanta, featuring Reps. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas (far left), Byron Donalds, R-Florida, (center) and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson (second from right). (Matt Ready | Fox News)
In the Hellfire PAC ad, Biden describes his old running mate, former President Obama, as “the first mainstream African American who is articulate, bright and clean-cut — a good-looking guy.”
Hunt, who is Black, told Fox News Digital that no Republican would be able to escape what Biden has said.
“If any Republican had even a slight history like Joe Biden on matters of race, they would be ostracized, canceled, and vilified by the media,” he said. “When Democrat President Joe Biden does it, there’s always an excuse, and when there’s no excuse, the behavior and policies simply fade into memory.”
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The ad will air in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Milwaukee and Detroit. CNN Presidential DebateAmericans across the country can watch the CNN presidential debate simulcast on Fox News Channel from 9:00 pm ET to 11:00 pm ET. Viewers can also watch Fox’s live coverage before and after the debate for expert analysis.
Hunt traveled to Atlanta on Wednesday with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Florida, for an event the two dubbed “Congress, Cognac and Cigars.” Moderated by former ESPN host Sage Steele, the two Black lawmakers will discuss in a cigar lounge and ask questions about how Black male voters will impact the 2024 election.
Hunt told Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind in an interview that his goal is to help Republicans get between 25% and 35% of the black male vote — a far-fetched goal, though it would spell an almost certain defeat for Biden’s campaign.
Several exit polls show that Trump has gained support among 19% of black male voters in 2020, though the majority of black voters still favor Biden.
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind, Paul Steinhauser, Joe Schoffstall and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
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