Fox News political analyst Gianno Caldwell had a heated exchange with former Biden 2020 surrogate Kevin Walling on The Faulkner Focus on Wednesday, after Walling made the claim that black unemployment was the lowest it had ever been under the Biden administration.
Caldwell argued that Harris has “lost support among the black community which was one of her strongest gets,” and “Joe Biden has absolutely failed the black community and those black voters who supported them know it and now they’re thinking about this election very differently.”
Walling attempted to counter this statement by asserting that Biden’s promotion has been effective among the black population. “We’re going to campaign directly to those people. Talking about the accomplishments of this administration, that we had the lowest black unemployment rate in the history of this country” he said.
Caldwell quickly refuted his claim. “No, that actually isn’t true,” he argued. As of April 2023, the black unemployment rate had fallen to 4.7%, the lowest it has been since records were kept. However, some have argued that this isn’t a cause for celebration, as the rate is dropping for the wrong reasons – namely, the declining labor force participation rate.
In response, Harris argued that contrary to Walling’s statement, messaging was not the solution – action was needed to address this issue. “Last time I looked, if you are having a problem paying for the food on your table, the messaging probably is too late. You got to start to stick and move. You got to have action,” she said. “That’s on either side of the aisle. Your side is in power now.”
Overall, the exchange illuminated fundamental disagreements between Biden’s campaign and supporters about the effectiveness of the current administration in improving the lives of black people.
While Biden supporters parrot talking points about black unemployment rates, others point out the lack of actual change in the situation of the unemployed black population. Regardless, it’s clear that more must be done to ensure that all Americans, regardless of race, can benefit from Biden’s initiatives.