Biden’s ‘Breakfast Club’ Controversy Shows What His Rivals Already Knew - The New York Times

entered the 2020 race for president, the executive producer of the popular nationally syndicated radio show “The Breakfast Club” said that he and the hosts were in discussions with the Biden campaign about an appearance.

As summer wound down, it became apparent to the show’s three hosts, Charlamagne Tha God, Angela Yee and DJ Envy, that Mr.

“They offered to have a black surrogate on the show,” Charlamagne said in an interview earlier this year.

But the candidate’s unwillingness to appear on the show made Charlamagne feel uneasy, he said.

Biden spoke about his time as a public defender and reminded Charlamagne that he had been endorsed by the N.A.A.C.P.

Biden offered to send a surrogate in his place: In their view, the presumptive Democratic nominee underestimates black voters, sees them as a monolith and takes their support for granted.

“Black people saved your political life in the primary this year, they have things they want from you, and one of them is a black woman running mate,” Charlamagne, whose given name is Lenard Larry McKelvey, said to Mr.

The Biden campaign declined to comment on the interview, its offer to send a surrogate on the show and how longstanding the invitation to appear had been.

Biden throughout the campaign, saying on CNN in September that he appears to be “suffering from that same white entitlement and privilege and ego” and that he falsely assumes that black voters would support him no matter what.

Although neither the show’s producer nor the campaign would say when exactly Mr.

Biden agreed to the appearance, Charlamagne, his co-hosts and the show’s producer said earlier this year that every presidential candidate knew the door was open, and had been since early in the primary.

And when the hosts upset listeners, people take to Twitter, where Charlamagne has been called out for his own gaffes and homophobic, transphobic and sexist comments.

As it has carved out a space for serious conversations about politics, it has become an important stop for candidates who desperately want to appeal to black voters.

Clinton appeared in April 2016, and since then the show has become an even more crucial campaign stop for presidential hopefuls who want to reach the show’s mostly black, young listeners and viewers.

“Morning show radio, especially for communities of color, has always been a big portion of how we shape ourselves politically, how we talk about issues, not just political, but cultural issues, too, and I think ‘The Breakfast Club’ has carved out a really special niche in being very emblematic of that,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, said in an interview at the show’s studio after her own appearance in February.

“I can’t tell you how many people said I heard about you on ‘The Breakfast Club,’” Andrew Yang said, describing young supporters who approached him at campaign events around the country.

He said he thinks part of the appeal for young people is the way the show breaks politics down.

In an interview at the studio in February, Charlamagne described the primary as “dream selling season,” or a moment when all the candidates would try to appeal to black voters.

“Everything you could accuse Bloomberg of, you could accuse Joe Biden of,” he said.