Cornel West says Biden needs to get off 'symbolic crack pipe' or black voters will head to Trump

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Harvard University Professor Cornel West said Tuesday that former Vice President Joe Biden “needs to get off his symbolic crack pipe” or he’ll lose black voters to President Trump in the 2020 election.

The liberal author made the comment to The Washington Examiner in response to a tweet the president wrote Monday, criticizing Biden’s involvement with the 1994 crime bill. The law had a mandatory life sentence for three-time felons and helped increase the prison population.

Cornel West said Tuesday "if Trump comes out strong on criminal justice reform, he is going to get a slice of the black vote." (Paul Marotta/Getty Images)

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“If Trump comes out strong on criminal justice reform, he is going to get a slice of the black vote, because this is life or death," West told The Washington Examiner. "I think Biden is going to have to take responsibility and acknowledge the contribution he made to something that was not a force for good.”

In 2016, black voters were also critical of Hillary Clinton’s involvement with the bill, reminding her that she had called the law's targets “superpredators.” West said he thought that hurt her in the election.

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West supports Bernie Sanders for president.