Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden said there is “absolutely” systemic racism in law enforcement, arguing that he believes the problem exists “across the board.”
Speaking during an interview Tuesday night on “CBS Evening News,” the former vice president made the remarks after being asked by host Norah O’Donnell if he believed that racial biases existed in policing on a systemic level.
“Absolutely, but it’s not just in law enforcement, it’s across the board. It’s in housing, it’s in education, and it’s in everything we do. It’s real. It’s genuine. It’s serious. And it is — it is able to be dealt with,” Biden replied.
The presidential hopeful went on to argue that racism being systemic in law enforcement does not make all cops racist or bad people.
“Look, not all law enforcement officers are racist. My lord, there are some really good, good cops out there. But the way in which it works right now is we’ve seen too many examples of it,” he said.
While Biden’s stance on this aligns him with progressives, the mutual stances end there.
Asked by O’Donnell if he supported defunding the police, Biden said no.
“No, I don’t support defunding the police. I support conditioning federal aid to police, based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness. And, in fact, are able to demonstrate they can protect the community and everybody in the community,” he told the CBS host.
The idea to “defund the police” grew out of protests in response to the murder of 46-year-old George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by a white police officer.
Protests and riots erupted across the nation over the past two weeks in a show of outrage against the killing of Floyd in Minneapolis.
Floyd could be heard in video of the event pleading that he could not breathe while being pinned down by since-fired Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for over eight minutes.
The video sparked a nationwide conversation about the prevalence of police brutality against minorities.
Defunding the police has become a slogan of sorts for those participating in protests when calling for police reform.
The idea has divided moderate Democrats, who have argued for a more measured approach to police reform, from progressives who want to radically transform the criminal justice system.
A spokeswoman for Biden’s campaign said Monday that the presidential hopeful “does not believe that police should be defunded,” but “hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change, and is driven to ensure that justice is done and that we put a stop to this terrible pain.”
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