The Biden administration will prioritize distributing coronavirus aid to small businesses owned by those in specific minority groups, according to a clip President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team shared Sunday.
The clip, taken from a press briefing Biden gave last week, features the president-elect saying his “priority” for distributing coronavirus economic relief available through the recently passed $900 billion stimulus bill will be small businesses with black, Latino, Asian, Native American, and women owners.
“Our focus will be on small businesses on Main Street that aren’t wealthy and well-connected that are facing real economic hardships through no fault of their own,” Biden says. “Our priority will be black, Latino, Asian, and Native American-owned small businesses, women-owned businesses”:
“Our priority will be Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American owned small businesses, women-owned businesses, and finally having equal access to resources needed to reopen and rebuild.” — President-elect Biden pic.twitter.com/pIyDuhf5pH
— Biden-Harris Presidential Transition (@Transition46) January 10, 2021
Biden further clarifies that his administration’s focus will be on small businesses that have faced “systemic barriers” to receiving federal aid. He says, “We’re going to make a concerted effort to help small businesses in low-income communities, in big cities, small towns, rural communities, that have faced systemic barriers to relief.”
Biden then adds, more broadly, that he will direct relief to businesses “hit the hardest”:
Think of the mom and pop owner with a couple of employees who can’t pick up the phone and call the banker, who doesn’t have a lawyer, an accountant to help them through this complicated process, to know if they’re even qualified, or who simply didn’t know where, where this relief is available in the first place.
And as we saw in this morning’s jobs report, restaurants, bars, and hospitality industry have been slammed by this virus. We’re gonna direct relief to those businesses and others that have been so badly hit, hit the hardest. We owe them that support to help them get through the other side of this crisis.
Thousands of commenters on social media took issue with Biden’s priorities, finding them overtly discriminatory.
Some observed the demographics Biden excluded while others raised concern over including Asian Americans, who are a relatively wealthy demographic:
You can always count on rich white men to protect their positions by throw ing low-income white men under the bus. https://t.co/hBuMFtB1c8
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) January 11, 2021
Racial discrimination, plain and simple. https://t.co/czSyOGhWCd
— Brit Hume (@brithume) January 11, 2021
What gives it away here is that he lists Asians as a priority. Asians do better in this country than white people, so he can’t pretend that he’s trying to prioritize the “disadvantaged.” This is simply a matter of excluding white males for the sake of it. Pure bigotry. https://t.co/gvUTDwj76o
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 11, 2021
Does @JoeBiden still think gays are a security threat? Why not include gays in the identity politics list? Separating people into groups means you have to list all of them…right?https://t.co/nGQrfQt0jW https://t.co/zEu26AK9tM
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) January 11, 2021
This is actual discrimination. The opposite of what my hero, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, fought & died for in America. https://t.co/sI37ojyle6
— Kimberly Klacik (@kimKBaltimore) January 11, 2021
My kids are half-Asian. Please don’t do us any favors. Fair play is all we want, not your sanctimonious pity & cheating like this. You are teaching them *horrible* values to play victim.
I couldn’t vote for you to stop Trump. Thanks for the reminder as to why. This is insane. https://t.co/NdB3mzYV1v
— Eric Weinstein (@EricRWeinstein) January 11, 2021
Whites need not apply.
Unbelievable.
Would you want to also just round them up while we are at it? #ThisIsNotOfGod https://t.co/IPkuEefjZM
— Obianuju Ekeocha (@obianuju) January 11, 2021
This is quite literally RACISM!! https://t.co/W09CrYzSnL
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) January 11, 2021
‘Our priority will be establishing a racial caste system. Equality!’ https://t.co/e4ruKA6MgL
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) January 11, 2021
Why insist upon the racial and ethnic distinctions? https://t.co/AGbfrp1jCY
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) January 11, 2021
Biden’s transition team has not publicly responded to the backlash and did not immediately respond to Breitbart News when asked for comment.
Write to Ashley Oliver at [email protected].
