On Monday, over 50 ultra-leftist fringe groups sent a letter to de facto Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden, insisting his response to riots in the wake of George Floyd’s death has been “far from sufficient.” They claimed his past legislative record in the Senate was lacking in proper adherence to their ideology and warned he could lose the election without the support of radical black groups.

While Biden needs a strong black turnout to win, especially as President Donald Trump looks to have more than doubled his support with black voters and tripled it with black male voters, he knows more votes will come from the black middle class than from the kind of hardcore progressive black and left-wing groups that sent him this message.

“As the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, you have a moral responsibility in this moment. Making amends for the harm you’ve caused is an important first step, but it is no longer enough… Violence and racism pervades and defines our policing and criminal justice systems. You have designed and endorsed policies that have significantly exacerbated these problems. As a Senator, you not only supported but in many cases authored and championed laws that expanded mass incarceration, increased police powers, and exacerbated racial disparities in surveillance and sentencing. These laws broke apart black communities and robbed many young black people of a future. They are a part of the history that has led us to this moment, and their ongoing fallout has contributed to the outpourings of grief and anger we are seeing today.

“You cannot win the election without the enthusiastic support of black voters, and how you act in this moment of crisis will play a big role in determining how black voters, and all voters concerned with racial justice, respond to your candidacy. A ‘return to normalcy’ will not suffice,” the letter reads.

The claims in the letter may strike many as incongruous. Obviously Biden did not specifically back legislation, during his time in the Senate during the Clinton administration, that “supported but in many cases authored and championed laws that expanded mass incarceration.” To be jailed, people have to commit crimes. Biden supported penalties for violent criminals. The incarceration was a logical consequence of the criminal deeds. Also, referring to the violent riots, arson, and looting as of late as “outpourings of grief and anger” stretches limits of credulity.

The letter is signed by far-left groups including the Bernie Sanders-linked Our Revolution, Black Votes Matter, the League of United Latin American Citizens, Working Families Party, United We Dream Action and the Sunrise Movement.

Biden recently said on the subject, “While I do not believe federal dollars should go to police departments violating people’s rights or turning to violence as the first resort, I do not support defunding police. The better answer is to give police departments the resources they need to implement meaningful reforms, and to condition other federal dollars on completing those reforms.”

His dilemma, how to navigate the dangerous shoals between loyally Democrat black middle class voters and strident and press-sponsored black leftist groups, will be a problem Biden will likely face from now until November.