After months in self-imposed quarantine, former Vice President Joe Biden spoke out about the racial tensions taking over American cities and called out President Donald Trump for spitting out rhetoric that he believes is meant to divide this nation even further.
Biden delivered a speech from Philadelphia City Hall on Tuesday in which he highlighted how the president’s words and actions during an ongoing pandemic and protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, only made a precarious situation much worse than it needed to be.
READ MORE: Biden meets with Black leaders at local church amid unrest
“Look where we are now and think anew: Is this who we are? Is this who we want to be? Is this who we want to pass on to our children and our grandchildren? Fear. Anger. Finger-pointing rather than the pursuit of happiness? Or do we want to be the America we know we could be?” Biden asked.
These sentiments echo his campaign theme of “restoring the soul of this nation.” In that spirit, Biden also chastised Trump for his controversial Rose Garden address on Monday, in which he outlined his administration’s military response to the protests.
That’s what the presidency is: a duty of care — to all of us, not just our voters, not just our donors, but all of us. pic.twitter.com/rWHywb5cHV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 2, 2020
The presidency is a big job. Nobody will get everything right. I won’t either.
But I promise you this: I won’t traffic in fear and division or 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. pic.twitter.com/TfNaoMRZQp
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 2, 2020
READ MORE: Joe Biden spoke to George Floyd’s family, calls death ‘act of brutality’
“The president held up the Bible at St John’s Church yesterday. I just wish he opened it once in a while, instead of brandishing it,” Biden said. “If he opened it, he could have learned something that we’re all called to love one another as we love ourselves. It’s really hard work. But it’s the work of America. Donald Trump isn’t interested in doing that work.”
“In addition to the Bible, he might also want to open the U.S. Constitution,” he continued. “If he did, he’d find the First Amendment.”
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