July 12, 2024, presidential campaign news

Radio host Earl Ingram appears on CNN on July 12.

A Milwaukee radio host on Friday apologized for agreeing to a request from the Biden campaign to make edits to an interview he recorded with the president earlier this month.

In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett that will air on “Laura Coates Live,” WAUK-AM host Earl Ingram said if he had to do it all over again, he would have said “absolutely not” to the campaign. 

When asked if he felt pressured by the campaign, he described being flattered when presented with the “opportunity to interview the most powerful man in the world.”

Ingram told CNN that he used four out of five questions given to him by the campaign, but couldn’t say whether he asked them word-for word. He said the questions were largely about the Black community.

Civic Media, the Wisconsin-based radio network that hosts Ingram’s show, released the edited clips and the entire unedited interview on Thursday. A Biden campaign spokesperson acknowledged it had asked the station to edit the interview.

The edited clips, it said, included Biden saying: “…and in addition to that, I have more Blacks in my administration than any other president, all other presidents combined, and in major positions, cabinet positions.”

A reference to former President Donald Trump’s call for the death penalty for the so-called Central Park Five was also removed. “I don’t know if they even call for their hanging or not, but he–but they said […] convicted of murder,” Biden said.

Ingram, who noted that the station has put things in place that will prevent a similar situation from occurring going forward, said Friday that he doesn’t understand how the things Biden said would be “met with so much consternation as it is today.”

When asked whether he was offended by Biden’s comments, the radio host insisted that the president is working to address disparities between Black and White Americans.

“President Biden, even with those faux pas, is a guy who’s making an effort and attempting to do something to address those issues,” he continued. “So, no, those things did not irritate me or upset me, or I think most Blacks.”