Free Republic

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) responded Friday evening to comments earlier in the day by former Vice President Joe Biden, who claimed — falsely — that the NAACP had endorsed him. In an interview with host Charlemagne tha God on The Breakfast Club with New York’s Power 105.1 FM, Biden said: “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.” He went on to defend his record on issues relevant to the black community, claiming: “The NAACP has endorsed me every time I’ve run.” In response, Derrick...

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) canceled a campaign rally in St. Louis Park, Minn., on Sunday after protesters reportedly affiliated with Black Lives Matter and other civil rights groups took the stage at her event for over an hour. In a statement obtained by The New York Times, Klobuchar's campaign said the senator offered to meet with demonstrators in exchange for them exiting the stage and allowing her rally to proceed, adding that the protesters initially agreed to such terms before reportedly backing out and refusing to leave the stage. “The campaign offered a meeting with the senator if they would...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The nation's oldest civil rights organization endorsed an Ohio ballot initiative Wednesday that is aimed at streamlining the state's voting process.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is being called to suspend her presidential campaign after an Associated Press story published Tuesday showed she may have mishandled a case while she was Hennepin County's District Attorney. As the county DA, Klobuchar led the case against Myon Burrell, who was a teenager at the time and was sentenced to life in prison for the 2002 murder of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards. The AP story revealed that Klobuchar prosecuted Burrell, now 33, despite there being little evidence and even though his co-defendant confessed to the crime and said Burrell wasn’t there. Though Klobuchar was not the...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Joe Biden spoke of his connection to black voters at an NAACP event Sunday afternoon and claimed his “political identity” was molded by minorities in his home state of Delaware. “I have a lot of black support because that’s where I come from. I was raised in the black church, politically, not a joke,” the former vice president said in Des Moines. “When I got into politics, I was the only white guy working on the east side, in the projects, because these were the guys I grew up with. These were the guys I worked...

Jill and I are sending our prayers to the Bryant family and to everyone who lost loved ones in today’s crash. It’s a reminder of how special — and fragile — life is. And it’s a reminder that we’ve got to make every day count.— Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) January 26, 2020

DES MOINES, Iowa - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden picked up another high profile endorsement on Saturday in Iowa, where the party’s nominating contest kicks off in nine days, after U.S. congresswoman Cindy Axne said she was backing the former vice president. Axne, a freshman U.S. lawmaker and moderate, is the latest in a slew of big-name endorsements for Biden in Iowa which could have an impact on undecided voters as caucus day nears on Feb. 3. Two former Iowa Democratic governors, Tom Vilsack and Chet Culver, have backed Biden, as has another U.S. House member, congresswoman Abby Finkenauer.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is considering backing former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary, The New York Times reported Thursday. Multiple Democratic officials familiar with the California senator’s deliberations told the Times she’s weighing the option of backing her former primary opponent. The officials told the Times the potential endorsement would not be likely until after the Senate impeachment trial that kicked off this week. Harris’s spokesman Chris Harris told the Times the senator “remains focused on the ongoing impeachment trial.” “No decisions have been made about whether she will endorse, which candidate, nor when an endorsement...

A group launched a 2020 ballot initiative Tuesday to expand Michigan’s civil rights law to include anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, a step that would put the issue to voters if the Republican-led Legislature does not pass the measure. Fair and Equal Michigan, a committee backed by business, political and philanthropic leaders, submitted petition language to the Board of State Canvassers. Once it is approved, the group will have until late May to collect the roughly 340,000 valid voter signatures needed to place the initiated bill before lawmakers. If legislators do not adopt the legislation — similar bills have long...

A federal court announced that next week U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs will formally block a photo ID requirement scheduled to begin in 2020. Unless the upcoming preliminary injunction is successfully appealed, the requirement will be halted until a lawsuit filed by the state NAACP and others is resolved.

The late Rep. Elijah Cummings' daughters are backing his longtime aide Harry Spikes in a crowded primary field to succeed him - and not the longtime lawmaker's widow. Jennifer Cummings, 37, and her sister Adia, 25, both support Spikes, who served on Cummings' staff for more than a decade and who was defeated in a prior primary for the Maryland House of Delegates. Cummings widow, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, 48, is also seeking the seat, as is Cummings' predecessor, former Rep. Kweisi Mfume, who was one of his oldest friends and is a former leader of the NAACP. All three of...

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, whom progressives have blamed for the president's hard-line immigration agenda should be removed from his position. "Every day Stephen Miller remains in the White House is an emergency," Clinton tweeted before promoting a letter calling for Miller's removal, signed by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and NAACP. The letter was produced by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a nonprofit coalition of "more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in...

Former Rep. Kweisi Mfume said Wednesday he would be a "champion" for the district he once represented if elected to represent it again. Mfume, the former 7th District congressman, is running to succeed the man who succeeded him, Elijah Cummings. He spoke Wednesday to C4. Mfume, who left office to lead the NAACP out of a path to financial ruin, touted his credentials as "somebody at the very least who is proven, tested, trusted and most of all ready to go to work on day one." Mfume talked about his beliefs on health care, violent crime, affordable college and spurring...

CNN contributor April Ryan and CNN media reporter Brian Stelter attacked black Republican Kimberly Klacik on Saturday, implying she drove Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) to his death last month after her video exposé on rat and trash infested Baltimore neighborhoods in his Congressional District provoked a national firestorm from President Trump.

Atlanta became the first city in the country to install contextual markers around its Confederate monuments a month ago, but the local branch of the NAACP says the explanations on the signs aren’t good enough. In a Tuesday letter to the Atlanta City Council, Atlanta branch president Richard Rose said the markers don’t “counter the notion of white supremacy.” On Wednesday, Rose went further, accusing members of a council committee of being “complicit on compromising on racism.” “It’s such a profound disappointment,” Rose said of the language on the markers. “It doesn’t give the story of why these monuments were...

Joe Biden is ready to scrap. The former vice president is firing back at his rivals and vowing to be more aggressive at the second presidential debates after weeks of sustained attacks against his civil rights record left his supporters frustrated and worried about his passive approach. The tipping point, according to allies and campaign strategists, came on Wednesday at a NAACP presidential candidate forum, where Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) accused Biden of being the “architect of mass incarceration” for supporting a 1994 crime bill. “You can't be called the architect of mass incarceration and remain quiet,” a Biden ally...

Members of the NAACP are calling for President Trump's impeachment, the latest effort to push members of Congress to pursue impeachment against the president. The group is holding its annual convention in Detroit. "Trump’s misconduct is unmistakable and has proven time and time again, that he is unfit to serve as the president of this country," NAACP President Derrick Johnson tweeted. The NAACP joins a growing chorus of voices calling for Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump. A total of 87 House members have expressed support for an impeachment inquiry, but Democratic leadership has been hesitant, instead asking the...

The NAACP Convention, taking place this week in Detroit, voted unanimously on Tuesday for a resolution supporting the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (KTRK) -- A Nevada school board trustee received instant criticism from parents after she used the term "colored" to describe students while trying to resolve racially-motivated social media attacks at a high school. Clark County School District board member Danielle Ford made the statement during a public meeting intended to ease fears by parents. "There's two different problems that we are experiencing right now," Ford began. "One is our lack of safety protocols, and the other one is the safety of colored students in general." She continued, "These are two different conversations. There is a clear problem...

The 50th Annual NAACP Awards were handed out this weekend, and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) was honored with the Chairman’s Award. “Extra’s” Terri Seymour was with Waters backstage, where she talked about the honor and about Jussie Smollett. Maxine Waters: "It's the correct thing that the charges were dropped," said the 80-year-old Democratic Congresswoman from California in a Sunday interview with Extra at the NAACP Image Awards. "First of all, we probably will never know all of the details. We’ve heard a lot of information," said Waters. "No one was hurt — that is, physically, killed, shot — he never...