Radio host Charlamagne Tha God on Wednesday declined to endorse President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump despite “The View” co-hosts urging him to do so.
The race between Trump and Biden seems to be tightening across seven battleground states that will be key to either candidate’s reelection, according to a Monday Bloomberg News/Morning Consult survey. Charlamagne said he dislikes both candidates and that he will not endorse Biden even as Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg both expressed what they believe to be the importance of him endorsing the current president. (RELATED: Hold Your Horses: Biden Isn’t Dead In The Water Yet)
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“Let’s get to it and get real,” Hostin said. “You have a massive platform reaching millions of listeners and you and I have talked about it before. You endorsed Joe Biden back in 2020, but this time around you say you’re not going to endorse anybody. Charlamagne, now is not the time, in my opinion, to sit this one out.”
Charlamagne informed Hostin he has no doubt he will be voting, but that he prefers to prioritize “issues” over “individuals.”
“But why not endorse? Why not endorse Biden?” Hostin followed up.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at Boston Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. May 21, 2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis
“Because if I’m sitting here telling my listeners that you have somebody out there who is a threat to democracy, you have somebody out there who said they want to, you know, suspend the Constitution to overthrow the results of an election. You saw this person try to lead an attempted coup of this country and I’m telling people this guy is a threat to democracy … There’s only two candidates out there. So if I’m saying that about this individual, the choice is clear, right?” Charlamagne asked, later inquiring, “Why do y’all need us to say this if we don’t feel comfortable saying it?”
Charlamagne in a recent New York Times interview called out Biden for co-sponsoring the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, which strengthened prison sentences for drug possession as well as for his role in authoring the 1994 crime bill, which some critics allege contributed to systemic racism.
TOPSHOT – (COMBO) This combination of pictures created on October 22, 2020 shows US President Donald Trump (L) and Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden during the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 22, 2020. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIJIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s not that we need you to say it but I think other folks need to hear,” Golberg told the radio host, launching into a criticism of the media for not adequately disseminating “facts.”
“The reality is I think both candidates are trash,” Charlamagne said. “But I am going to vote in November and I’m going to vote my best interest and I’m going to vote who I think can preserve democracy so if I think both are trash and don’t feel like endorsing one, would you rather me endorse the individual or the fact that, hey, we need to go out and protect democracy?”
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, U.S., May 11, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
“Help him out!” Hostin pleaded later. “Help him out!”
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