Interview with Al Sharpton on "Keepin' It Real"

SHARPTON: It really was moving and compelling because I think this is not just an ordinary midterm election. Tell us what you really mean when you say democracy is at stake.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, Reverend Al, you know this as well as I do. You think about this new Republican Party. This is not your father's Republican Party. These are neither Republicans. It's Trump Republicans. And they -- number one, they think the only election that is one that is legitimate is one they won. If they didn't win, there must have been -- there must have been fraud. And so, they won't accept -- you have 320 so election deniers on the Republican ticket running for those offices that control the electoral process in the state -- the states and local offices, as well as federal. And they made no bones about it. And these guys, how in God's name can you call yourself a supporter of the Constitution when you say you only win when -- when you win. If there is any dispute, then it must be that there was cheating. And number two, all these guys who stormed the -- one who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, they refer to them as heroes. Some of them say they want to be -- they want to see them, you know, pardoned. I just think it is just completely contrary to anything I've seen and you have seen in our lifetime in terms of a national position to take.

SHARPTON: One of the things that I have argued. And you know, I've known -- you and I have known each other for decades, and I've come on the national scene from a civil rights point of view usually challenging the system. And one of the things that I've heard that I don't think gets enough notice, you had said that -- the night you won, you said, particularly to Black voters, that "You had my back, I have your back."

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

SHARPTON: And I'm not one that defends presidents. But I mean, when you look at the economy, the executive orders that you signed, advancing diversity and equity, the series executive actions with the minimum wage, the executive order on George Floyd when we couldn't get that through the Congress, through the Senate, and at the same time stressing we've got to deal with crime, I mean, I think that you have shown, even when it was difficult, that you were having our back. And -- and I don't say that with any hesitation. I think what is amazing to me is that people bring up we didn't get the John Lewis bill through. And -- and I was disappointed as you were. But all 50 Republicans voted against the bill. We couldn't get two to go with us with the -- with the filibuster. But the -- the absolute, the entire Republican Party in the Senate went against the bill. You can't be blamed for that. Talk about what you've tried to do. Because I've been in the meetings with you, I've been on the phone with you. Talk about what you've tried to do to keep your promise of having Black Americans back as people are preparing to go to the polls that haven't voted early in Black America.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, the Black community has had my back. That's why I got involved in politics. You know, Al, one of the few people know --

SHARPTON: Yeah.

THE PRESIDENT: The largest Black population in America here in the state of Delaware, as a percent of population, has been the source of my strength. And that's what got me involved in politics in the first place. I made a -- I made a number of promises. Number one, I said I'm going to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court -- woman on the court. We did it. And we did it in a way that -- with the great help of Ketanji Brown Jackson. We did it, and a great help from the senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin. We found ourselves in a situation where I said I want the bench to look more like the country. Al, we have appointed -- I have appointed more appellate court justices on this -- on the federal court system than every other president combined, and even Black women. I said that I was going to forgive some student debt. I was going to help HBCUs. HBCUs have as many qualified student as any other institution. But what the problem -- they don't -- they don't have endowments. So, they don't have the laboratories. They don't have the places where the jobs of the future are going to be, you know, from the high-tech jobs. Well, guess what? We got some $5 billion, and we're not stopping now. And, you know, the idea is that, in terms of the crime, you know, every Republican who voted against my rescue plan, which gave billions of dollars directly to cities and states with the flexibility leaning toward community programs, directed toward crime prevention, they're the reason why they kept good cops on the beat. And -- and the other thing I did, I made sure that although I couldn't get the -- the -- the legislation passed, the George Floyd legislation passed, I'm coming back at it. But I -- I just initiated, by executive order, at the federal level. No chokeholds, no no-knock warrants. I was able to do it at a federal level. And look, the other thing is, Al, you know, we've talked about this. And every Black person understands this, that Black crime is one that, in fact, are the victims of the crime.

SHARPTON: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: They're in -- they're in their communities. And they -- they want help to retrain the way we train police. We have to train police to be able -- and we need more social workers. We need more psychologists. We need more people with mental health backgrounds in -- on police forces so that we don't just have the guy come in a -- you know, we -- we don't -- for example, we don't have up-armored Humvees rolling in the neighborhoods anymore, and that's not going to happen on my watch. And so, in addition to that, what we've done is we've provided -- you know, Black employment is way up. We've provided loans for small businesses and housing for young Blacks who are just starting, who need -- who need the -- the down payment. We've -- I provided the student loan benefits, commit 20,000 bucks to student loan forgiveness. If, in fact, you went to a school with a -- with not just $10,000, but another $10,000 if you had a Pell Grant. What I've done with regard to the -- you know, dealing with the -- not just a course, but also with the notion of what we're going to do to provide for opportunities for Black Americans. I said that I was going to make sure my -- my administration look like America. We have more African Americans in high positions, both on the cabinet -- in the cabinet, as well as throughout my administration. And I'm still working on doing even more. The bottom line is everything we've done has been designed to help the community and other communities like the Black communities, the Hispanic communities in a similar situation. And it's about time that we gave the kind of help we need. And every single thing that I've proposed, with virtually one or two exceptions, the Republican Party has been against it. And guess what? Their whole proposal, if they win and take back the House and the Senate is to do away with all the things that I've said. Not a joke. Do away with all the things that I've said. They don't want student debt going through. They don't -- forgiveness. They don't want to see where we go in Black HBCU. They don't want -- like the fact that I was able to cut the cost of prescriptions for starting in the 1st of the year. Any senior that is in -- that has -- will never have to pay more than $2,000 a year for Medicare for all their drugs, even the $10,000; $12,000; $14,000 year. I've -- I've made -- delisted the -- not -- I've seen to it that anyone that's in jail for mere possession of marijuana has that wiped off their record. And if they're out of jail -- look, first of all, they're no longer in jail. And two, if they're out of jail, their record gets wiped clean because they don't have a shot. And everybody, for example, getting out of prison should be able to, once they serve their time, qualify for all the programs from Pell Grant, to housing, to the whole range of things. We're going to give people a chance. Give a chance, that's all they're looking for is a chance. And -- and -- that's -- that's what I'm -- I have great confidence in the leadership of the African American community. I really do, Al. You've -- you've -- anyway, I'm -- I'm sorry to get so --

SHARPTON: No, but -- no, you've shown that. But lastly, I think that when we talk about crime, you have, more than anyone, fought about -- dealing with gun control. A lot of these crimes, particularly in -- in Black communities are gun-related. You know, people don't talk enough about how we have to deal with that. Two weeks after I did the funeral, preached at the funeral of George Floyd, I did a one-year-old kid's funeral in Brooklyn from -- he was in across from a gang fight. And you've tried to deal with guns. And you've done it against with other groups you had, at our request, the hate summit, with all of this stuff --

THE PRESIDENT: Two weeks after I did the funeral, preached at the funeral of George Floyd, I did a one-year-old kid's funeral in Brooklyn from -- he was in across from a gang fight. And you've tried to deal with guns. And you've done it against with other groups you had, at our request, the hate summit, with all of this stuff --

SHARPTON: Antisemitism, anti-Asian. We all came together. And you said, "No, do it at the White House," to all of us and said, "and I'll come." And the vice president came. Nobody's ever convened the leaders of all these different groups and said, "We've got to stand together against hate," the ADL, my group, National Action Network, Urban League. So, I think all of this is at risk if people don't come out and vote.

THE PRESIDENT: Al, look, you are, all those groups are my -- are the salvation of this country in terms of hate and crime. I mean it sincerely. You know, you and other civil rights leaders came to the White House. You laid out your cares and concerns as a -- and the AA community, the -- and the door is always open. You know, I said in the beginning. You knew I meant it. A lot of people didn't know me as well were surprised. The door at the White House is always open. That matters of -- and policies have directly benefited the African American community and other minority communities. Look, we are -- we just have such opportunities if we just step up. My concern in this election, though, is, if we don't win, they're going to wipe out everything we've done. I'll be able to veto some of this stuff, but some of it's going to wipe out. It's going to go away. And it makes no sense. You know, voting rights -- and I prioritized that issue on -- from day one. Department of Justice says, "Double the voting rights staff," has challenging provisions in the state restrictions in Georgia, Arizona, Texas. We've launched a task force on the 21st to combat threats against election workers. You know, I want to be clear. America should feel safe going to the polls. Did you ever think, Al, you would see -- I guess you may have because you've seen it in the South and during the civil rights movement, where you have people sitting outside the polling place, and then they are 14, 15 --

SHARPTON: Never saw that. I never saw that.

THE PRESIDENT: It's outrageous. It's outrageous.

SHARPTON: It is outrageous. It's outrageous.

THE PRESIDENT: Well --

SHARPTON: Well, thank you, Mr. President. I know you're going -- you're headed to New York. And we're -- we've got two days left. And I thank you for stopping to talk to our listeners around the country. And I'm even going to play some excerpts on my MSNBC show. President of the United States, President Joe Biden, thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thanks, Al. Thanks a lot. Keep it going, Al.

SHARPTON: Thanks, Al. Thanks a lot. Keep it going, Al.