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Cardi B has interviewed Joe Biden over Zoom, speaking to the Democratic nominee for the US presidency about issues such as the coronavirus pandemic, police brutality and college tuition.
After previously endorsing Bernie Sanders, Cardi confirmed earlier this month that she was now backing Biden, who will take on Donald Trump in the US presidential election on November 3.
In a new interview arranged by Elle, Cardi told Biden that she “just wants Trump out”.
“His mouth gets us in trouble so much. I don’t want to be lied to — we’re dealing with a pandemic right now, and I just want answers. I want to know when this will be over,” she continued. “I want to go back to my job.
“But I don’t want someone to lie to me and tell me that it’s okay not to wear a mask, that everything is going to be okay. I want a president to tell me what the steps are for us to get better, to tell me, ‘This is why it is taking so long, this is why other countries are doing better than ours.’ Tell me the truth, the hard-core truth.”
In reply, Biden acknowledged that “presidents have to take responsibility”, adding: “I understand one of your favourite presidents is Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt said the American people can take anything if you tell them the truth. Sometimes the truth is hard. But right now, we’re in a position where we have an opportunity to make so much progress. The American public has had the blinders taken off.”
The two also spoke about college tuition (Biden promised “free education” for anybody from a family that makes less than $125,000 as well as free community college for all) and the recent Black Lives Matter protests, which called for social justice following the death of George Floyd in May.
“I feel like Black people, we’re not asking for sympathy, we’re not asking for charity: we are just asking for equality,” the rapper said. “We are asking for fairness, and we are asking for justice. That is all. I feel like everything people are asking for is getting interpreted in a very different way. No, it’s simple: We just want justice. We want to feel like Americans.”
In reply, Biden said that he was optimistic for the future “because of your generation”.
“You’re the smartest, the best educated, the least prejudiced, and the most engaged generation in history. And you’re going to change things. I really mean it!” he said. “I’m not trying to be nice. And by the way, the rest of the world has always looked to us. Why? Not because we’re so powerful. But [because of] the power of our example.
“Look what they’re seeing now with this president [Trump]. He’s promoting hatred, prejudice, racism. Talking about protecting the Confederate flag when Mississippi takes it off their flag. This is all about the game of making people hate each other. Because that’s how he wins, by dividing us. Your generation is changing it.”
Over the weekend, Cardi voiced praise for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and suggested that she would back the congresswoman if she ran for president in 2024.
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