Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders tried to explain why he isn’t just another “white man” running for president during a long-ranging Monday interview.

Sanders appeared on “The Breakfast Club,” a popular New York City-based radio show that has become a rite of passage for 2020 Democratic hopefuls. Charlamagne tha God, one of the hosts of the show, kicked off the conversation by asking Sanders, “44 out of 45 presidents in this country have been white men — do you think we need another one?”

“Well, I think you need this one,” Sanders said with a laugh.

The rest of the interview included Sanders waxing poetic about racial inequality, reparations, criminal justice reform, and other hot button issues to prove that he is “woke” enough on race in 2019. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders Gets Irritated As Wolf Blitzer Grills Him On Reparations)

WATCH:

Sanders also made his first campaign promise: a diverse White House cabinet.

“It’s going to be a diverse campaign staff and this is a promise — this is maybe my first campaign promise. You ready?” Sanders asserted. “You know, when you look at Trump’s cabinet, it looks kinda white and kinda old, right? Our cabinet will look like America in terms of women and men, you know, racial diversity.”

Sanders was criticized in 2016 because his campaign did not allegedly do enough to reach black voters — he won just 14 percent of the black vote in the South Carolina primary compared to Clinton’s 86 percent.

“As Mr. Sanders prepares to announce another run for the White House as early as this week, his weak track record with black voters — a vital base in the Democratic Party — could be a potential threat to his candidacy,” The New York Times reported. “And his campaign’s experience in 2016 … reveals a strikingly uneven commitment on the part of Mr. Sanders and his top advisers to organize and communicate effectively with black voters and leaders.”

Follow Amber on Twitter