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Tags: joe biden | dei | naacp | detroit | elections | 2024 | diversity

Biden Calls DEI 'Core Strength of America' in NAACP Speech

By    |   Monday, 20 May 2024 10:47 AM EDT

President Joe Biden lauded diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as the "core strength of America" during a Sunday speech at an NAACP event in Detroit.

Biden was the keynote speaker at the 69th annual Detroit NAACP Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner on Sunday, according to One Detroit. He reportedly focused on talking points from his reelection campaign and described former President Donald Trump, who is the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, as "obsessed" and "unhinged."

"Look, the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are the core strength of America," Biden said in his remarks, according to Mediaite. "That's why I'm proud to have the most diverse administration in history to tap into the full talents of our country."

"We have more African-American, we have more women, we have more minorities in our administration than any other administration in all of history," he added. "That's why we're doing so damn well."

According to MLive, NAACP officials presented Biden with the James Weldon Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award, named after an early 20th century civil rights activist and NAACP leader.

The Republican National Committee wasted no time in highlighting the Democrat president's comments, posting a video clip on social media platform X of him calling DEI "core" U.S. values.

During his speech in Detroit, Biden also reiterated a claim about banning books he had made earlier in the day as commencement speaker at Morehouse, a historically Black men's college in Atlanta.

"Folks, I never imagined that in 2024, there'd be folks waiting to ban books in America," he said. "What in God's name is that about? Not only that, they're trying to erase Black history. Literally. They're wrong. They don't understand. Black history is American history."

"Not a joke," he said, cutting off applause.

The Biden campaign told MLive that the purpose of his visit to Detroit was to connect with Black voters.

"This campaign will not take a single voter for granted," Trey Baker, a senior campaign adviser, wrote in a memo. "We are not and will not parachute into these communities at the last minute, expecting their vote."

Support for Biden and the Democrats is falling among Black voters, according to a new poll of 39 battleground congressional districts.

The new survey of 20 states conducted by Cygnal shows that Black voters are increasingly fed up with Democrats appeasing leftists instead of prioritizing issues that matter to them.

"Democrats are in trouble with Black voters, as the number of those saying the Democrat Party is more extreme than the Republican Party has increased by 20% since March," Cygnal Vice President of Polling Brock McCleary told the Washington Examiner.

Nicole Weatherholtz

Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


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President Joe Biden lauded diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as the "core strength of America" during a Sunday speech at an NAACP event in Detroit.
joe biden, dei, naacp, detroit, elections, 2024, diversity, equity, inclusion, division, exclusion, inequity
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2024-47-20
Monday, 20 May 2024 10:47 AM
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