1,400 Black women sign letter of support for Biden, condemn lack of Democratic unity

More than 1,400 Black women and allies have indicated their support for President Biden and Vice President Harris in a letter released Thursday.

Highlighting the fact that millions of Americans cast ballots for Biden and Harris in the primary, the women said attempts to change the ticket “disregard” and “circumvent the will of millions of voters who participated in a democratic process.” 

“The suggestion that any candidate who won their primary should simply step aside because victory appears difficult at the moment is disrespectful to the voters, unjust and undemocratic,” the women wrote. 

The letter is signed by Black powerhouses like Carol Moseley Braun, the first African American woman elected to the senate; Keisha Lance Bottoms, former senior adviser to Biden and former mayor of Atlanta; and Melanie Campbell, chair of the Power of the Ballot Action Fund 

The letter follows weeks of Democrats calling for Biden to remove himself from the ticket after a disastrous debate performance. This week, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) added his voice to the calls, while reports surfaced of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) pressuring him to drop out.

Some Senate Democrats have also raised concerns about the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) plan to certify Biden’s nomination for president ahead of the August convention. 

But the letter’s signees argue that using Biden’s debate performance to justify calls to step aside are unfair when compared to his record of delivering for Americans. 

“The Biden-Harris Administration is running on a solid record of historic legislative accomplishments and a commitment to finish their agenda to improve the lives of all Americans, protect our rights, freedoms and democracy,” the letter states. “Further, we believe it is unfair and disruptive to judge President Biden for having a bad 90-minute debate performance against a serial liar who wants to destroy our democracy and be a dictator-in-chief.

“History is a great teacher and has taught us that a divided house will fail,” the women wrote Thursday. “As Black women we are uniquely aware of the very real threat a second Trump term poses to our country and especially to our community. But this is not a moment to give in to fear. Instead, we must unify around our deep belief in our values and our ability to effectively engage voters and win up and down the ballot in 2024.”

Biden has been hoping to rebuild support among Black voters as his numbers fall with the demographic. Though a new survey released this week shows 64 percent of Black women said they would vote for Biden if the election were held today, strategists have warned that continued infighting within the party will drive this support down.

Biden also tried to address some of the most pressing concerns for Black voters in an interview with BET this week.

“History also reflects that Black women are the most reliable voting Bloc for democrats. When black women vote in record numbers, democrats win The White House, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governorships, state legislatures, mayors’ races and other local races across the nation. When black women lead, organize, mobilize, encourage and influence our families, spouses, partners, nieces, nephews and neighbors to own their power and vote, democrats win,” the letter continued.

“Now is the time for the Democratic Party to stop the attacks against their own presidential nominee that ‘we the people’ voted for and focus on defeating the real threat to our democracy and that is Donald Trump,” the letter concluded.

Updated on July 19 at 8:28 a.m. EDT