Black Republican calls out Biden's 'real record on race' in six-figure ad buy to air during CNN debate

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New ad targets President Biden's record on race

Texas Republican Congressman Wesley Hunt's Hellfire PAC purchased a six-figure ad buy in swing state cities with large Black populations that will air during Thursday's presidential debate on CNN. (Credit: Hellfire PAC)

FIRST ON FOX: A key Republican lawmaker spearheading former President Trump's outreach to Black voters will debut a six-figure ad buy calling out what he describes as President Biden's "real record on race" during the CNN Presidential Debate Thursday.

First-term Texas Congressman Wesley Hunt's Hellfire PAC will air the 60-second ad on Fox News and CNN in major cities in key battleground states including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Thursday night. The ad, which puts a spotlight on several of Biden's controversial comments on race, is part of Hunt's strategy to convince Black voters to support Trump in November.

"Joe Biden's history as a politician reveals a pattern of making explicitly racist comments, authoring and endorsing discriminatory policies, and associating with individuals known as segregationists," Hunt told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

He announced that Hellfire PAC would begin a national campaign in multiple swing states "to inform voters of Joe Biden's real history on race." 

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A screenshot taken from the Hellfire PAC ad that calls out President Biden's record on race.  (Hellfire PAC)

The Hellfire PAC video begins with Biden's own vice president, Kamala Harris, questioning his onetime opposition to school desegregation. In an infamous moment from the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, then-rival candidate Harris said Biden, as a freshman senator in 1975, had worked with segregationist lawmakers to oppose "bussing." 

"You also worked with them to oppose busing," Harris told Biden during a primary debate, referencing two segregationist senators. "You know there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me."

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Reps. Wesley Hunt (left) and Byron Donalds (right) are hitting the campaign trail to turn Black male voters out for Donald Trump (center).  (Getty Images)

The ad goes on to call into question Biden's record on civil rights, noting his relationships with segregationist Southern Democrats, including former Sens. James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia. Biden ignited a firestorm in 2019 after he spoke fondly of the "civility" of the old Senate and his ability to work with those he disagreed with, name-dropping those opponents of racial integration. In response to attacks from his then-Democratic rivals, Biden said there is "not a racist bone in my body." 

The video quotes various cringe-inducing statements from Biden's lengthy political career, including a campaign event from 2012 when the then-vice president told an audience of Black voters that Republicans are "going to put y'all back in chains." In another insensitive gaffe quoted from a 2019 campaign event in Iowa, Biden said "poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids." 

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The Trump campaign hosts a Black business roundtable in Atlanta, featuring Reps. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas (far left), Byron Donalds, R-Fla., (center) and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson (second from right).  (Matt Reidy | Fox News)

Hellfire PAC's ad also shows Biden describing his old running mate, former President Obama, as "the first sort of mainstream African American who is articulate, and bright and clean — nice looking guy." 

Hunt, who is Black, told Fox News Digital that no Republican would get away with the things Biden has said.

"If any Republican had even the slightest history that Joe Biden has on race, they would be ostracized, canceled, and excoriated by the media," he said. "When Democrat President Joe Biden does it, there’s always an excuse, and, when there’s not an excuse, the behavior and the policies are simply memory-holed." 

The Biden campaign told Fox News Digital in a statement that the president is happy to compare his record with Trump and his allies. 

"While Joe Biden achieved record low Black unemployment, secured historic funding for our HBCUs, capped the cost of insulin, and secured billions in student loan forgiveness to close the racial wealth gap, Donald Trump left the Black community with nothing but skyrocketing unemployment and uninsured rates," said Sarafina Chitika, a senior spokesperson for the Biden-Harris campaign. 

"After launching his public life by calling for the death penalty for the innocent Central Park 5 and his political life spreading racist conspiracies about President Obama, the best thing Donald Trump ever did for Black people was lose to Joe Biden four years ago. Black voters are going to make Trump a two-time loser this November."

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The Hellfire PAC ad will air in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Milwaukee and Detroit during the CNN Presidential Debate. Americans across the country can tune in to the Fox News Channel from 9:00 p.m. ET to 11:00 p.m. ET to watch the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast. Viewers can also tune into Fox's live coverage before and after the debate for expert analysis.

Hunt traveled to Atlanta for an event with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., on Wednesday that the duo calls, "Congress, Cognac and Cigars." Moderated by former ESPN host Sage Steele, the two Black lawmakers will have a discussion in a cigar lounge and field questions about how Black male voters will impact the 2024 election. 

Hunt told Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind in an interview that he aims to help Republicans capture 25% to 35% of the Black male vote — a long-shot goal, though one that would spell almost certain defeat for Biden's campaign. 

Multiple exit polls show Trump having won 19% of Black male voters in 2020, though the vast majority of Black voters still went for Biden.

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind, Paul Steinhauser, Joe Schoffstall and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.