President Joe Biden revealed at a fundraiser in New York City Thursday night that his former boss, President Barack Obama, has been ‘helping out a lot.’
Obama returned to the White House Tuesday to have lunch with the president, as Biden has started campaigning as part of his reelection bid and has been on a fundraising blitz.
Biden held fundraisers this week in New York, Chicago and Chevy Chase, Maryland, one of Washington, D.C.’s ritzy suburbs.
To the first of two groups he addressed in New York, Biden joked that everytime he hears Hail to the Chief he still looks around for Obama.
Earlier Thursday, the two presidents – as well as former first lady Michelle Obama – were in lockstep in their condemnation of the Supreme Court for gutting affimative action in college admissions.
Former President Barack Obama is ‘helping out a lot,’ President Joe Biden said Thursday night at a fundraiser in New York City. He’s photographed arriving earlier Thursday at John F. Kennedy International Airport
Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama condemned the Supreme Court decision that was announced Thursday that gutted affirmative action in college admissions
The Obamas, however, were able to give the messaging a more personal touch, as they talked about being black Americans who were accepted into some of the best colleges and law schools in the nation.
‘Like any policy, affirmative action wasn’t perfect. But it allowed generations of students like Michelle and me to prove we belonged,’ President Obama said in a statement.
‘Now it’s up to all of us to give young people the opportunities they deserve – and help students everywhere benefit from new perspectives,’ the ex-president added.
The former president attended Occidental College for two years and then transferred to New York University.
He then attended Harvard Law School and was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.
Michelle Obama went to Princeton for undergrad and then to Harvard Law School.
Former first lady Michelle Obama put out a lengthy statement about the Supreme Court rolling back affirmative action
In a lengthy statement she recalled being one of the few black students on campus at Princeton.
‘I knew I’d worked hard for it. But still, I sometimes wondered if people thought I got there because of affirmative action,’ she said. ‘It was a shadow that students like me couldn’t shake, whether those doubts came from the outside or inside our minds.’
‘But the fact is this: I belonged,’ she continued. ‘And semester after semester, decade after decade, for more than half a century, countless students like me showed they belonged, too.’
She argued that students of color and white students benefitted from affirmative action because white students heard a ‘perspective’ they might not have before.
‘It wasn’t perfect, but there’s no doubt that it helped offer new ladders of opportunity to those who, throughout our history, have too often been denied a chance to show how fast they can climb,’ the former first lady said.
She noted how a number of students are granted ‘special consideration for admissions,’ pointing a finger at legacy students and those from ‘lavish’ high schools.
‘We don’t usually question if those students belong,’ she said. ‘So often, we just accept that money, power, and privilege are perfectly justifiable forms of affirmative action, while kids growing up like I did are expected to compete when the ground is anything but level.’
She went on to say her ‘heart breaks for any young person out there who’s wondering what their future holds – and what kinds of chances will be open to them.’
The former first lady then asked people to act by supporting organizations that help minority students.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk