We live in an era when the left has weaponized accusations of racism to the point of absurdity. If you're a conservative, practically breathing the wrong way can get you labeled a bigot. The political left has built an entire infrastructure around finding racism — real, imagined, or invented — in the most innocent or human interactions. Leftists dub common hand gestures white supremacist symbols. They turn innocent actions into microaggressions. Innocent phrases are decried as racist dog whistles. Well, if you’re a Republican, anyway.
On Tuesday, Joe Biden attended a portrait unveiling at Syracuse University's College of Law. During his speech, Biden spotted Jeffrey M. Scruggs, chairman of the Syracuse University Board of Trustees, in the audience. What followed was one of the most tone-deaf moments in recent political memory. Biden called Scruggs up to the stage, told the crowd he reminded him of Barack Obama, and even asked, "Doesn't he look like Barack?"
The problem is that Scruggs and Obama do not look alike.
Face shape, ears, nose, mouth — pick a feature, any feature. Even their hair is different. They both have long faces, I guess, but that’s it. When a white person suggests that two black individuals look alike, it taps into a familiar trope that many people view as inherently racist. That reaction isn’t just about the comment itself, but the long-standing stereotype behind it—the idea that black individuals are interchangeable or indistinguishable. Media outlets have been forced to apologize for mixing up black public figures, and the left has always been willing to join the angry mob.
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Now imagine, for just a moment, that Donald Trump had done this. Don't strain too hard — you already know the answer.
Biden's defenders rushed to social media almost immediately, claiming that Scruggs and Obama actually do bear a resemblance.
He's not under fire from anyone except right wing loons. The guy literally looks like him. pic.twitter.com/lAJIAqnVON
— Chris D. Jackson (@ChrisDJackson) April 14, 2026
No this isn’t racist. The guy does look like Barack Obama.
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) April 14, 2026
Stop being idiots and concentrate on the convicted felon who thinks Diet Coke prevents cancer, and who got us into a new pointless war where Americans are dying. https://t.co/Ez5b469chq
Talk about cringeworthy gaslighting. These are the same voices that would brand someone on the right a racist for something as minor as mispronouncing a name. Now they’re holding up photos of two black men who plainly don’t resemble each other and insisting the opposite. It feels like a rerun of the whole “cheap fakes” narrative. We all saw clip after clip of Biden showing clear signs of cognitive decline, and each time the response was the same: nothing to see here, the footage was misleading, taken out of context, or outright fake.
Remember, the left built the rules. They’re the ones who find racism everywhere, even when it doesn’t exist. Yet, Joe Biden, who has a well-documented history of making racist comments, is defended by default.
