THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Biden campaign is 35% people of color and 53% female, new diversity data show

Biden campaign is 35% people of color and 53% female, new diversity data show

WASHINGTON - Sixty percent of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign operation is white and just over half are women, according to figures released Saturday under public prodding, after months in which his campaign declined to make that information public.

Thirty-five percent of full-time Biden staff are people of color, according to his campaign, and 53% are women. Five percent of the staff opted not to specify a race. 

When it comes to senior officials - which the campaign said includes nonstaff "senior consultants who spend the majority of their time on the campaign" - 36% are people of color and 58% are women. 

Biden's campaign provided the data hours after he was pressed on his campaign's diversity during a virtual presidential town hall hosted by Asian Pacific Islander American Vote. The Washington Post and other news outlets had previously requested information on the campaign's diversity, which it had refused to provide. 

Also on Saturday, Biden said he has already prepared an immigration bill, and he reiterated his previous vow to send Congress legislation on his first day as president that would create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. 

"There are things that I had promised before that I'd do on Day 1 that aren't going to go away," Biden said at a virtual fundraiser. "We need to deal with immigration. I already have a bill written. I'm going to send to the United States Congress on Day 1 a path to citizenship for those in fact who are undocumented." 

The makeup of Biden's team has come under intensifying scrutiny as questions of race have dominated the national political conversation. Some supporters have indicated concerns about the diversity of his team, whose most visible leaders are white.

Biden recently added more people of color to his team, which, along with the inclusion of consultants in its newly released figures, appeared to have increased his percentage of nonwhite staff members. Consultants are not traditionally considered staff on campaigns. 

The names of Biden's staff members were not included in the information released Saturday. Symone Sanders, a campaign senior adviser, is his most visible African American aide. Biden also has a large crew of surrogates of color, but they are not campaign staff members. The figures released by the campaign did not distinguish race beyond whether the officials were white or of color.

Corresponding numbers for the Trump campaign were not immediately available.

The campaign said its Asian American and Pacific Islander senior leaders include its chief financial officer, chief operating officer, national voter protection director, digital chief of staff, director of digital partnerships and surrogates director.

The campaign said its definition of senior staff "includes department heads, senior advisers, deputy campaign managers, and senior consultants who spend the majority of their time on the campaign, and others." It added in a statement that it is "still continuing the hiring process and expects to continue to add key leaders across the campaign."

Hours before the release, PBS correspondent Amna Nawaz noted to Biden in the town hall that his campaign had not yet released specific information about the diversity of his staff. 

"When will you release that staff diversity data?" she asked.

Biden replied: "I'll release that staff diversity data today. When we get off this call, we'll call you."

He added: "You know, the fact of the matter is, we have a very diverse staff. And we have a diverse staff that goes across the board and high-level and senior positions. So I will make sure we release it to you, and it does include AAPI members as well as a significant number of African Americans, significant number of women and Latinos."

Nawaz followed up by asking whether Biden was talking about "the senior-most members of your staff, not staff overall - the people with agency who are at the decision-making table. Is that correct?"

"That's correct," Biden replied. 

Nawaz said she would take Biden up on his offer. 

"My team has to be watching this. When this is over, pick up the phone immediately and call her, OK?" Biden added. 

Biden also said that his administration would "look like America." He has previously vowed to name a woman as vice president and a black woman as his first Supreme Court nominee. In recent weeks, he has been under increasing pressure to name a black woman as his running mate as well.

"Look at my staff. I have the most diverse staff of anybody running. I've always done that," Biden told NPR in December. "The administration should look like the American public."

 

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