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I asked ChatGPT why Joe Biden feared a “racial jungle” and its response floored me

Kristine Hadeed
10 min readMay 23, 2023

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Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash

In doing some research for a different article around racial healing and desegregation, I asked ChatGPT this question:

Why did Joe Biden fear a “racial jungle”?

I asked this question because Biden has been frequently criticized for having used the term in the past, including by his own VP Kamala Harris during the last Democratic presidential primary debates.

I just wanted to better understand the broader context and intent behind Biden’s poorly-worded statement, along with any potential merit they might have held for the dos and dont’s of racial integration efforts.

What procedeed was probably the most confusing and error-ridden that I’ve had so far with the AI bot. It started off by reprimanding me for falling prey to disinformation, claiming that the quote had been used by a different unnamed senator and misattributed to Biden:

ChatGPT: I’m sorry, but the statement you mentioned about Joe Biden fearing a “racial jungle” is not accurate. It appears that you may be referring to a misinterpretation or a misquotation. It’s important to be cautious about relying on such claims without proper context or verifiable sources.

Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States, has a long political career, and it’s crucial to evaluate his statements within their proper context. It is possible that you are referring to a comment made by Joe Biden in the 1970s during a Senate hearing about school desegregation. However, the phrase “racial jungle” was actually used by another senator, not by Biden himself.

It is essential to consider the entirety of someone’s record and statements when forming an opinion about their views on race or any other subject. If you have a specific quote or incident you would like to discuss, please provide more details, and I’ll do my best to provide you with accurate information.

I was surprised, because I remembered hearing the quote attributed to Biden by multiple news outlets during the last presidential race. But maybe I was wrong. I asked ChatGPT for further…

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Kristine Hadeed
Kristine Hadeed

Written by Kristine Hadeed

Critical thinker and non-partisan community organizer advocating for the liberation and dignity of all people.

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