Robert Johnson, the co-founder of BET, seemed to suggest he will not vote for Joe Biden in November, though he did not offer a direct endorsement of President Trump.
Speaking with CNBC, Johnson said that Tuesday night’s debate was a loss for the American people, adding that he will take the “devil I know” over the other one.
“This was like a schoolyard fight over who had the best-looking girlfriend,” Johnson said. “It was a waste of an hour and a half that gave no guidance, no direction at all as to where the country will go after this election. But having summed it up in that language, where I come out as a businessman, I will take the devil I know over the devil I don’t know any time of the week. And that seems to be what business people are confronting today.”
When CNBC anchor Rebecca Quick asked if Johnson was endorsing President Trump, he said that Americans are better off dealing with whoever is already at the helm of the ship. He did not directly endorse the president, but he severely criticized Joe Biden.
“I’m not endorsing anybody,” Johnson said. “What I’m saying is if I’m a businessperson, what you want more than anything else, particularly coming out of something as horrible as this pandemic, and its impact on not only the U.S. economy but the global economy, the more you know about who will be pulling the lever of economic growth, economic development, taxes, stimulus, regulation. In my opinion, you’re better off dealing with somebody you know where they’re gonna be than somebody you really have no idea what decisions they will make at such a critical time.”
“I absolutely do not know what Vice President Biden will do. I haven’t heard anything coherent out of what he said he would do,” he added.
Robert Johnson has been severely critical of the Democratic Party throughout this election cycle. In June, Johnson called for a black independent party, citing Joe Biden’s now-infamous “you ain’t black” comment.
“I’ve been convinced for a long time that 40 million African Americans who tend to vote as a bloc in one of the two parties limit their leverage in getting action from both parties,” he said. “I think it’s time that African Americans form an independent party, not be an appendage of one party or ignored by the other party, and using their leverage in a Democracy to say, ‘we stand for things that are principally focused on the 40 million African Americans,’ and not have that diluted by trying to be a part of another party where the interests may diverge, and oftentimes do diverge.”
“It’s been a fact that had AA interests been fully embraced by one or two of the dominant parties, we wouldn’t have the social, economic, racial issues that we have now,” he added.