Cardi B Talks COVID-19, Health Care, and Equality With Joe Biden
Cardi B recently sat down with Joe Biden via Zoom and interviewed the 2020 presidential candidate regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, health care, and equality for Blacks, among other things, as Elle reports.
The conversation between the two started out lighthearted, as they both began talking about their children. During the convo, the Bronx rapper got a chance to virtually meet Biden’s daughter, Ashley who is a fan of Cardi’s.
“You know the nickname she gave me when she was growing up? She called me Joey B. So we may be related,” Biden told Cardi before congratulating her on the “Money” rapper’s recent cover of Elle.
WILMINGTON, DE – AUGUST 14: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden signs required documents for receiving the Democratic nomination for President at the Hotel DuPont on August 14, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Harris is the first Black woman and first person of Indian descent to be a presumptive nominee on a presidential ticket by a major party in U.S. history. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Cardi then got into her list of things that she wanted to chat with Biden about regarding the recent election, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I don’t want to be lied to—we’re dealing with a pandemic right now, and I just want answers. I want to know when this will be over. I want to go back to my job. But I don’t want someone to lie to me and tell me that it’s okay not to wear a mask, that everything is going to be okay,” Cardi said.
“I want a president to tell me what the steps are for us to get better, to tell me, ‘This is why it is taking so long, this is why other countries are doing better than ours.’ Tell me the truth, the hard-core truth.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 22: Cardi B performs at the 7th Annual BET Experience at L.A. Live Presented by Coca-Cola at Staples Center on June 22, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
She also mentioned that she wanted free Medicare and laws that are “fair” for Black citizens. “I just want laws that are fair to Black citizens and that are fair for cops, too,” Cardi continued.
“If you kill somebody who doesn’t have a weapon on them, you go to jail. You know what? If I kill somebody, I’ve got to go to jail. You gotta go to jail, too. That’s what I want.”
“There’s no reason why we can’t have all of that. Presidents have to take responsibility. I understand one of your favorite presidents is Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt said the American people can take anything if you tell them the truth,” Biden responded.
“Sometimes the truth is hard. But right now, we’re in a position where we have an opportunity to make so much progress. The American public has had the blinders taken off.”
The “WAP” rapper also told Joe Biden that she’s “so focused on Medicare and college education, and I never really thought about how important child care is… [But] how are you supposed to do that when you probably don’t have a babysitter for your kid?”
WILMINGTON, DE – AUGUST 12: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden listens as his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) speaks during a virtual fundraising event, in makeshift studio at the Hotel DuPont n August 12, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Harris is the first Black woman and first person of Indian descent to be a presumptive nominee on a presidential ticket by a major party in U.S. history. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“One of the things that I admire about you is that you keep talking about what I call equity—decency, fairness, and treating people with respect. John Lewis, one of the great civil rights leaders, used to say the vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool you have. Look, I’m a lot older than you, to state the obvious. When I was in high school, the civil rights movement was just being started, and along came Bull Connor and his dogs,” Biden said.
“He thought he was going to drive a wooden stake into the heart of the civil rights movement. But when all those folks saw what was happening in the South—[when] they saw Bull Connor with dogs [attacking] elderly Black women going to church and kids being knocked down with fire hoses—all of a sudden, as Dr. King said, we had the second emancipation. We had the Voting Rights Act and we had the Civil Rights Act. It changed things because people said, ‘Oh my God, that’s happening.’ [Today], the cell phone has changed America. Because we’re at a point where some brave kid can stand there for a total of 8 minutes and 46 seconds and take a photograph of a Black man [being] brutally murdered. And people around the world were saying, ‘My God. This really happens?’ And now they’re demanding change.”
“You know, I feel like Black people, we’re not asking for sympathy, we’re not asking for charity—we are just asking for equality. We are asking for fairness, and we are asking for justice. That is all,” Cardi told Biden.
He noted that things are changing, and said, “The reason I’m so optimistic is because of your generation. You’re the smartest, the best educated, the least prejudiced, and the most engaged generation in history. And you’re going to change things. I really mean it! I’m not trying to be nice. And by the way, the rest of the world has always looked to us. Why? Not because we’re so powerful. But [because of ] the power of our example. Look what they’re seeing now with this president. He’s promoting hatred, prejudice, racism. Talking about protecting the Confederate flag when Mississippi takes it off their flag. This is all about the game of making people hate each other. Because that’s how he wins, by dividing us. Your generation is changing it.”
