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In today’s edition … Biden’s D-Day speech to focus on the need for global alliances … Trump’s Georgia election case delayed … but first …
Can Biden take credit for rising Black wealth?
When President Biden traveled to Philadelphia last week to kick off a new effort to win over Black voters, he boasted that the gulf in wealth between White and Black Americans had narrowed on his watch.
“The racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s been in 20 years because of our efforts,” Biden said.
Biden has deployed the statistic repeatedly as he tries to shore up his support with Black voters, a traditionally Democratic constituency with whom he has struggled in recent polling. The campaign has also said Biden has delivered for Black Americans by “increasing Black wealth by 60%.”
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The reality is more complicated.
The racial wealth gap has narrowed by one measure — but grown by another one. The data on which Biden is relying starts in 2019, making it tough to untangle how much credit he can claim for the rise in Black wealth and how much belongs to former president Donald Trump.
“Black and Brown wealth is rising, but so is the wealth gap,” Andre Perry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a liberal-leaning think tank, said in a talk on Monday.
The wealth of the median Black family grew by 61 percent between 2019 and 2022, rising twice as fast as the wealth of the median White family, according to the Federal Reserve data on which Biden’s claim rests. But White families started off so much richer than Black ones that the wealth gap between them still grew by about $50,000. (The median White family had a net worth of $285,000 in 2022, versus $44,900 for the median Black family.)
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Most of the rise in Black wealth was due to rising home values, according to the data. Housing prices surged under Trump and kept rising after Biden took office (leading many Americans to despair that they will ever be able to afford a home).
Perry argued that Biden’s biggest impact on Black wealth might be that his policies helped to stave off a predicted recession that likely would have hit Black Americans especially hard.
“It’s not so much that the Biden administration increased wealth,” he said in an interview. “It’s that the economy was stable enough so that Black people’s wealth could increase.”
Fighting for Black voters
Biden is taking credit for growing Black wealth as he and Trump vie for Black voters’ support.
Biden has campaigned recently with Black voters in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and deployed surrogates to Black communities across the country over the past week.
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Trump, meanwhile, argued at a rally last month in the Bronx that “African Americans are getting slaughtered” by Biden’s policies. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), a potential Trump vice-presidential pick who is Black, infuriated Democrats this week by suggesting that Black families were stronger during the Jim Crow years. (His critique in some ways echoed the one Daniel Patrick Moynihan made as a staffer in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration.)
Black voters still back Biden by big margins, even though polls show their support for him has slipped since 2020 and their support for Trump has increased. Many of them aren’t convinced that Biden has helped them economically, though.
Just 22 percent of Black Americans said they were better off financially now than they were when Biden took office, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll in April. The same share said they were worse off, while 54 percent said they were in about the same shape financially.
Mindful of the metrics
A Biden campaign official pointed to further metrics showing that Black Americans have benefited under Biden. Black poverty hit a record low in 2022, and Black unemployment is almost as low as the nadir it hit during the Trump administration.
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Several Congressional Black Caucus members also praised Biden’s record of creating jobs.
- “Black folks have benefited from that,” Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who represents a swing state where Biden campaigned last month, told us. “We are the ones who have those jobs. We are the ones whose wages are increasing. We are the ones whose home equity is increasing — those of us who have homes.”
- “There’s been some noise that has been proliferated about what has not been done for the African American community,” Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.) “But it’s absolutely far from the truth. President Biden’s administration has really, really been good for African Americans.”
But Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.), a freshman who represents a swing district that’s struggling economically, said his constituents didn’t necessarily feel the benefits of rising Black wealth.
“I represent an area that’s experiencing enormous food insecurity and the cost of food — people are still struggling,” Davis said. “We just have to be mindful of what single metric we’re looking at.”
Jesse Van Tol, president and chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, said Biden deserves credit for pressing banks to expand special purpose credit programs, which are meant to reduce racial disparities in lending. But he added that there were risks to talking about rising wealth when many Americans say they’re struggling.
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“When we talk about progress in the aggregate, it’s not very meaningful if you yourself have not progressed,” he said. “I think certainly there is a need for the Biden administration to propose bold solutions to addressing the Black-White homeownership gap.”
What we’re watching
In the courts
The Supreme Court is expected to issue at least one more decision this morning.
We’re still awaiting rulings in several closely watched cases, including two involving Trump.
In one, the court will address whether Trump is immune from prosecution for seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In the other, the justices will grapple with whether Trump and the Jan. 6 rioters others can be charged with obstructing an official proceeding.
Some other hot-button-issue cases are on the docket, too: Two involve abortion and two tackle firearm issues.
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A federal judge is set to hear arguments this morning over whether “Stephen K. Bannon should report to prison immediately to begin serving a four-month term for contempt of Congress after an appeals court in May upheld his conviction,” our colleague Spencer S. Hsu reports.
Bannon, a conservative podcaster and former Trump White House adviser, defied a subpoena in 2021 from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
On the Hill
Congress left town for the week because many members have traveled to Normandy.
At the White House
Biden’s D-Day speech to focus on the need for global alliances
President Biden’s remarks in Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day today will reportedly serve as a subtle rebuke to former president Donald Trump and his opposition to NATO.
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- “While Biden is not likely to name Trump during his remarks, he plans to offer an unequivocal endorsem*nt of the global order that the Republican front-runner has trashed, according to senior administration officials,” our colleagues Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Toluse Olorunnipa write.
Biden will reportedly draw comparisons between the fight against tyranny in World War II and Ukraine’s effort to fight off an invasion from Russia today. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to be among the world leaders in attendance at today’s events.
The United States’ support for Ukraine has been controversial domestically, particularly among isolationists on the right. While Biden’s remarks today will eschew direct discussion of domestic politics, he will reportedly return to Normandy tomorrow to give a speech directed at the American people on the theme “the importance of defending freedom and democracy.”
From the courts
Trump’s Georgia election case delayed
Donald Trump’s Georgia election interference case was temporarily stopped yesterday when the Georgia Court of Appeals ordered a halt while awaiting the outcome of an appeal that determines whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis can continue in her role.
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- “The order means the case, which accuses [Trump and co-defendants] of a criminal conspiracy to try to overturn Trump’s defeat in the state, will almost certainly not be scheduled for trial before the fall election or even the new year,” our colleague Amy Gardner reports. “It remains unclear if the case against the six remaining co-defendants who did not sign on to the appeal will proceed.”
Oral arguments in the appeal were originally set to begin in October, though it was recently removed from the court’s calendar and a new date has not yet been set.
Two other major cases against Trump have been delayed recently as well: Trump’s classified documents case has been indefinitely delayed while the judge considers how to handle the use of classified materials as evidence and Trump’s federal election interference case is paused pending a Supreme Court ruling on Trump’s invocation of presidential immunity.
Prosecution nears end of witness list in Hunter Biden trial
Hunter Biden’s gun charges trial continues today, with Hallie Biden, the widow of Biden’s brother Beau, expected to take the stand. Hallie Biden’s testimony is expected to cover her relationship with Hunter Biden and their drug use together.
The prosecution says it may be their final day calling witnesses, which so far have included Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan, who have testified about Biden’s drug habit. Gordon Cleveland, a former part-time firearms salesman, testified Wednesday about selling the gun to Biden that led to this prosecution. Biden stands accused of lying about his drug use while purchasing the firearm.
- “Not all the drama has been in the courtroom. During a break in proceedings on Tuesday, Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen, approached Garrett Ziegler, a former Trump aide who has compiled embarrassing information about her husband and posted it online,” our colleagues Matt Viser, Perry Stein and Devlin Barrett report. Cohen reportedly called Ziegler a Nazi during the exchange.
The defense is expected to call Biden’s oldest daughter, Naomi Biden, and his uncle, James Biden, when the prosecution rests.
The Media
Must reads
From The Post:
- This Catholic leader shelters migrants. Texas says he runs ‘stash houses.’ By Arelis R. Hernández.
- The GOP promises legal revenge for Trump. Easier said than done. By Aaron Blake.
- House GOP asks Justice Dept. to charge Biden’s son, brother for making false statements. By Marianna Sotomayor.
- Tree of Life exhibit sparks talk of guns and hate in Senate rotunda. By David Nakamura.
- House speaker appoints Trump loyalists Perry, Jackson to Intelligence Committee. By Maegan Vazquez.
- How every senator voted on advancing the Right to Contraception Act. By Adrián Blanco, Chris Alcantara and Kati Perry.
- Border agents begin turning back migrants under new Biden restrictions. By Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti.
- Young Black voters are key in the 2024 election. Many don’t love their options. By Sabrina Rodriguez and Hannah Yoon.
From across the web:
- N.Y.P.D. Moves to Revoke Trump’s License to Carry a Gun. By the New York Times’ Lola Fadulu and William K. Rashbaum.
- Egyptian official faced “tense” grilling from U.S. lawmakers. By Axios’s Andrew Solender.
Viral
Wait for it …
— Nathan Howard (@SmileItsNathan) June 5, 2024While leaving the U.S. Capitol tonight I watched a dozen cops and reporter @ChadPergram sprint past me down Constitution Ave. Obviously I followed assuming something very bad had just happened
Ended up being kind of wholesome though pic.twitter.com/ZeUwwSSK2p
Thanks for reading. You can also follow us on X: @LACaldwellDC and @theodoricmeyer.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled Andrew Solender’s name. We apologize for the error.
