by Daniel Johnson
June 17, 2024
The radio host did not outright endorse President Joe Biden.
During an exchange with Bill Maher on June 14, Charlamagne Tha God indicated that he would likely vote for President Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential election. The Breakfast Club host has refrained from explicitly endorsing a candidate this cycle but has previously used phrasing similar to Biden’s in appearances.
As The Hill reports, Maher told Charlamagne that he knew he wouldn’t endorse Biden, to which Charlamagne replied, “I’m not endorsing anybody. But that doesn’t mean I’m not voting.”
Charlamagne, whose real name is Lenard McKelvey, continued, “Here’s the thing though, Bill, whenever I have these conversations or I come on these shows, I say the same thing about Donald Trump. I think Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. I think he led an attempted coup in this country. He wanted to, you know, terminate the Constitution to overthrow the results of an election. And I say I’m voting to preserve democracy. So when I say those things that I just said, does it sound like I’m voting for Donald Trump?”
When Maher tried to press Charlamagne on why he wouldn’t just come right out and say that he supports President Joe Biden, Charlamagne turned the tables on Maher. “I watched your show a couple weeks ago. I saw, Ken Burke was up here. Ken Burke said he’s not … he doesn’t support Trump. Biden. And he’s not voting. You didn’t give him no push back on that? None.” Maher defended himself by claiming that he pushes back on such arguments “all the time.”
McKelvey has maintained that he believes neither candidate is worth an endorsement, even though he endorsed Biden during the last election. During an appearance on The View in May, Charlamagne told the hosts that he would rather stress that democracy needs to be preserved instead of endorsing a specific candidate. “The reality is I think both candidates are trash. If I think both candidates are trash, and I don’t feel like endorsing one, would you rather me endorse an individual or endorse the fact that, hey, we need to go out there and protect democracy?”
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