OAN Brooke Mallory
UPDATED 6:02 PM – Sunday, May 14, 2023
President Joe Biden received an honorary doctorate degree on Saturday from Howard University in recognition of his “analytical intellect” and “popularity on both sides,” assertions that conservatives on social media mocked and recent polls refuted.
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At the 155th commencement of Howard University on Saturday, Biden was formally introduced by the university’s president, Dr. Wayne Frederick.
“Admired for your sound analytical intellect and open embrace for all, your popularity on both sides of the aisle of the United States led to your illustrious reputation and outstanding service of 36 years as a Democratic senator from Delaware beginning at a tender age of 29,” Frederick said about Biden.
On Twitter, conservatives ridiculed the Biden depiction, saying it “feels like parody.”
“There is no way this guy is talking about Joe Biden,” said Nathan Brand, a GOP communications professional, in another tweet.
Recent polls refute the claims that Biden is well-liked by people on both sides of the political spectrum and has “sound analytical intellect.”
Biden’s approval rating was at an all-time low of 37% according to a Gallup poll from April. A study conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post and released last Sunday, also showed 63% of American people do not believe that Biden, 80, has the “mental sharpness” needed to be an effective president.
Numerous House Republicans have recently requested that Biden take a cognitive test or withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, including Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who served as former President Barack Obama’s physician.
Biden also claimed in a speech that white supremacy is the “most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland,” while speaking in front of graduating students at the historically Black college. His comments sparked outrage on social media, with many accusing him of poorly attempting to sow racial division and hostility.
“I don’t have to tell you that progress towards justice often meets ferocious pushback from the oldest and most sinister of forces,” Biden said. “That’s because hate never goes away.”
In his speech, Biden recounted how when he witnessed white nationalists march in Charlottesville in 2017, it inspired him to first run for president. He claimed that the nation is still engaged in a “battle” against “sinister forces” who want society to return to a more polarizing era, where people of color (POC) were at the bottom of the totem pole.
“The harsh reality of racism has long torn us apart,” Biden said at the university in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. “It’s a battle. It’s never really over, but on the best days, enough of us have the guts and the hearts to stand up for the best in us, to choose love over hate…
“Union over disunion. Progress over retreat. To stand up against the poison of White supremacy like I did in my inaugural address to single it out as the most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland.”
The 80-year-old president seemed to be trying to win over young POC who were crucial to his victory in 2020, but have since turned on him over the past two years, according to polling numbers.
However, Biden, who was a senator at the time, had previously been a prominent opponent of busing as a method for desegregating public schools in the 1970’s. His own past comments had been contentious and appeared to be racist.
“Unless we do something about this, my children are going to grow up in a jungle, the jungle being a racial jungle with tensions having built so high that it is going to explode at some point. We have got to make some move on this.”
The notable left-leaning “fact-checking” site, Snopes, also admitted that this was a correct and direct quote from the current president.
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