'Squad' Democrat Jamaal Bowman argues Biden inaction on reparations is holding him back
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., claimed young people were feeling lukewarm on President Biden's re-election campaign because he isn't discussing reparations in an interview on MSNBC.
When asked if Biden could win over young voters as he faces lagging poll numbers, Bowman said it would be "tough" because voters were "already upset over a variety of things, including how he’s handled the climate issue."
"So I think it’s a combination of all these things that’s turning young people off, and people of color have been turned off for a while because of a lack of comprehensive immigration reform, if you’re talking about the Latino community, and no conversation at all about reparations, if you’re talking about the Black community," he said.
"But we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year on weapons in war, but we can’t even have a conversation about reparations? Those are the things that are happening right now," Bowman said.
More municipalities across the country have explored reparations for Black Americans in various forms, including cash payments, to atone for slavery and racism. Bowman's fellow Squad member Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., introduced a proposal in May to pay $14 trillion in reparations, although the measure was dead on arrival. Reparations remain highly controversial, with proponents calling them long overdue and critics saying they only serve to divide the country further.
Bowman praised Biden in some aspects but said he had been a disappointment to young Americans on the Israel-Hamas war.
"He does some good things, then they come in, and then he does something else that pushes them away. The response to the Israel-Gaza conflict, again, the one-sidedness of it has really turned young people away and the BIPOC community away as well," Bowman added.
The congressman also spoke out on a potential cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. "Young people — they want peace, they want justice, they want a diplomatic response to what’s going on."
"They want us to spend more money on education and jobs and climate and keeping people out of prison and health care than we spend on war," he continued. "And this president, at the moment, is not showing the capacity to do that, and the party and the Congress — not just a party, all of Congress isn’t showing the capacity to do that."
Biden's campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.