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18-07-2024
WASHINGTON: United States President Joe Biden has returned to the campaign trail for the first time since his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, narrowly avoided an assassination attempt over the weekend.
Speaking on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nevada, Biden addressed the shooting directly, which killed a bystander and injured at least two others, as well as Trump himself.
“Our politics have gotten too heated,” Biden said as he took the podium. “As I’ve made clear throughout my presidency, we all have a responsibility to lower the temperature and condemn violence in any form. We’ve gotta remember, in America, we’re not enemies. We’re friends. We’re neighbors. We’re fellow Americans” but while he denounced political violence and polarization, Biden nevertheless criticized Trump both implicitly and explicitly, calling out the Republican for his track record on the economy, reproductive rights, gun violence and other issues.
“Just because our politics are much divided doesn’t mean we should stop telling the truth. Who you are, what you’ve done, what you will do that’s fair game,” Biden said.
Biden delivered his remarks on the fourth day of the national convention for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a prominent civil rights organization in the US.
The appearance came only three days after a 20-year-old gunman positioned himself on a roof in Butler, Pennsylvania, and fired an AR-15-style rifle at Trump as he spoke at a rally.
The shooting heightened tensions ahead of a tightly fought US presidential race, set to culminate with Election Day on November 5.
Biden, a Democrat, seeks to retain the presidency in a rematch of his 2020 race against Trump. But in the aftermath of the shooting, Biden temporarily suspended television advertisements attacking the Republican leader, as both candidates made calls for unity.
The Democratic incumbent reprised that theme in his speech to the NAACP convention, albeit with some biting remarks for his Republican rival.
“We have to say with one voice that violence is not the answer. That’s what we should rally around as a nation. That’s the unity I’m talking about,” Biden said.
After repeating his offer of prayers to the Trump family, Biden quickly pivoted to the question of violence against the Black community an issue he implied Trump was weak in.
Biden drew a stark contrast between the outpouring of support after the Trump shooting and the vitriol that faced Black election workers after the 2020 election and Black police officers present at the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
He also blasted Trump for his response to the murder of George Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota who died after a law enforcement official kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes.
“You understand, if you’re going to talk about standing against violence, you must stand against all violence. You must stand against violence perpetrated against presidential candidates in Pennsylvania,” Biden said.
“The violence perpetrated against George Floyd in Minnesota. Against Black veterans and police officers like Eugene Goodman on January 6 and Black election workers, like Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss in Atlanta. We have to stand against the violence and intimidation of white supremacy.”
Biden particularly underscored Trump’s response to the Floyd murder. Speaking to the crowd at the NAACP gathering, he said: “When you peacefully protested George Floyd’s murder, Donald Trump called for the National Guard to go after you. What in the hell is the matter with this man?” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
