Former Vice President Joe Biden is tired of Trump’s hateful and divisive speech. He’s tired of Trump speaking out of both sides of his mouth, and he, like much of America who doesn’t believe that McDonald’s is a sustainable and healthy diet, is just tired of watching Trump grandstand just to grandstand.
“When peaceful protesters are dispersed by the order of the president from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House—using tear gas and flash grenades—in order to stage a photo op at a noble church, we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle,” Biden said at Philadelphia’s City Hall, Politico reports.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was addressing the president’s use of force to clear peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C. Law enforcement used tear gas, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets Monday just to move an unsuspecting group of protesters from Lafayette Square, which is across from the White House, so that Trump could walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church and take a photo holding a Bible.
For those of you who believe that silent crunking is the most effective way to protest—because, seriously, there are some of y’all who believe in this—see below:
Or for those of you who have been on a fast from tragedy and violence, the protest and calls for police to stop killing black and brown folks were started after an asshole cop, Derek Chauvin, decided to kneel on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was already handcuffed. Floyd would eventually die and Chauvin would be fired and charged with continuing the long history of over-policing black bodies—oh, and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Protests have called for the three other officers who were fired with Chauvin to be arrested and charged, as well.
During his speech, Biden noted that Floyd also uttered, “I can’t breathe”—“which became a rallying cry in 2014 after another black man, Eric Garner, died after a caught-on-camera struggle with New York City police,” Politico reports.
“George Floyd’s last words. But they didn’t die with him. They’re still being heard. They’re echoing across this nation,” Biden said. “They speak to a nation where too often just the color of your skin puts your life at risk. They speak to a nation where more than 100,000 people have lost their lives to a virus and 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment—with a disproportionate number of these deaths and job losses concentrated in the black and minority communities.”
Politico notes that Biden’s speech has been the first he’s released that wasn’t made from the basement of his Wilmington, Del., home. Biden and his all-black mask have mostly been hunkered down there since the coronavirus pandemic hit. Biden has been heavily criticized for this from both the left and the right, but his Republican opponent is such a bag of wet soggy cheese spread that Biden is winning in polls simply by not being Trump.
Floyd’s death and the subsequent protest that followed gave Biden an opportunity to show the major differences between him and Trump: Biden cares about the protesters; Trump believes protesting is akin to not voting for him, and therefore, he doesn’t give a shit about them. Biden “met with protesters in Delaware over the weekend and with black faith leaders at a Wilmington church on Monday,” Politico reports.
“I promise you this. I won’t traffic in fear and division. I won’t fan the flames of hate. I will seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued this country–not use them for political gain,” Biden pledged during his speech Tuesday. “I’ll do my job and take responsibility. I won’t blame others. I’ll never forget that the job isn’t about me. It’s about you. And I’ll work to not only rebuild this nation. But to build it better than it was.”