PoliticoJoe Biden calls Trump first racist to be elected US president

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee made the claim in response to Trump’s use of the terms ‘China virus’ and ‘kung flu’

Several of the country's presidents owned slaves and supported racist policies, but Trump the first to make it his ‘calling card’

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US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in Delaware earlier this week. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:29pm, 23 Jul 2020Updated: 8:29am, 24 Jul 2020

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Matthew Choi on politico.com on July 22, 2020.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden has claimed that Donald Trump is the first racist elected president.

Speaking during a virtual town hall on Wednesday, Biden made the claim in response to racist remarks that the president has made to characterise the coronavirus pandemic. Trump and others in his circle have repeatedly referred to the virus as the “China virus,” the “kung flu” and the “Wuhan virus”.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in turn claimed that “no sitting president has ever done this, never, never, never. No Republican president has done this. No Democratic president. We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed, and they’ve tried to get elected president. But he’s the first one that has.”

US President Donald Trump, who Joe Biden said is a racist. Photo: AFP

Several of the country's early presidents owned slaves while in office, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Zachary Taylor. Woodrow Wilson was an adamant supporter of segregation in the federal government, and his racist legacy has led to calls for the removal of his name from Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. The school was renamed following a decision late last month.

Symone Sanders, a Biden campaign senior adviser, tried to clarify the candidate’s remarks in a statement later on Wednesday.