Joe Biden: Distributing Coronavirus Aid to Minority-Owned Small Businesses Is ‘Our Priority’

Joe Biden / YouTube
Ashley Oliver

The Biden administration will prioritize distributing coronavirus aid to small businesses owned by those in specific minority groups, according to a clip President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team shared Sunday.

The clip, taken from a press briefing Biden gave last week, features the president-elect saying his “priority” for distributing coronavirus economic relief available through the recently passed $900 billion stimulus bill will be small businesses with black, Latino, Asian, Native American, and women owners.

“Our focus will be on small businesses on Main Street that aren’t wealthy and well-connected that are facing real economic hardships through no fault of their own,” Biden says. “Our priority will be black, Latino, Asian, and Native American-owned small businesses, women-owned businesses”:

Biden further clarifies that his administration’s focus will be on small businesses that have faced “systemic barriers” to receiving federal aid. He says, “We’re going to make a concerted effort to help small businesses in low-income communities, in big cities, small towns, rural communities, that have faced systemic barriers to relief.”

Biden then adds, more broadly, that he will direct relief to businesses “hit the hardest”:

Think of the mom and pop owner with a couple of employees who can’t pick up the phone and call the banker, who doesn’t have a lawyer, an accountant to help them through this complicated process, to know if they’re even qualified, or who simply didn’t know where, where this relief is available in the first place.

…

And as we saw in this morning’s jobs report, restaurants, bars, and hospitality industry have been slammed by this virus. We’re gonna direct relief to those businesses and others that have been so badly hit, hit the hardest. We owe them that support to help them get through the other side of this crisis.

Thousands of commenters on social media took issue with Biden’s priorities, finding them overtly discriminatory.

Some observed the demographics Biden excluded while others raised concern over including Asian Americans, who are a relatively wealthy demographic:

Biden’s transition team has not publicly responded to the backlash and did not immediately respond to Breitbart News when asked for comment.

Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com.

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