Joe Biden woos black voters as Donald Trump gains ground

President brands his election opponent a ‘loser’ who is trying to rewrite history
President Biden spoke at a church where nine people were killed by a white supremacist in 2015
President Biden spoke at a church where nine people were killed by a white supremacist in 2015
STEPHANIE SCARBROUGH/AP

President Biden has compared ­Donald Trump’s “lies” to attempts to write slavery out of the history of the US Civil War and warned of the dangers of extremist rhetoric in a campaign speech aimed at black voters.

Biden launched his latest assault on Trump’s suitability to be president at the Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine black worshippers were shot dead by a white supremacist in 2015. He said the murders were motivated by the “poison” of white supremacy that “throughout our history has ripped this nation apart”.

With opinion polls showing an ­erosion of crucial black support for Biden, the speech amounted to part two of a hard-hitting start to the year for the 81-year-old president, targeting Trump as a “loser”