“The president of the United States must be part of the solution, not the problem,” Biden said.
Jack Brewster Forbes Staff
TOPLINE
Joe Biden offered a message of hope and unity in prepared remarks delivered in Philadelphia’s City Hall on Tuesday, seeking to heal a nation tearing at the seams after eight days of unrest and posit his leadership style next to a combative President Trump.
KEY FACTS
“The president of the United States must be part of the solution, not the problem,” Biden said, adding that the nation is “crying out for leadership” after the death of George Floyd, and a pandemic that has left more than 100,000 Americans dead and more than 40 million unemployed.
Biden called the protests sweeping the nation a “wake up call” and repeated Floyd’s dying words, “I can’t breathe,” imploring Americans to try and “listen” and “understand” them.
Biden’s speech comes one day after Trump delivered remarks in the Rose Garden on Monday in which he promised to “mobilize troops” on American soil if governors failed to respond forcefully.
CHIEF CRITIC
In a startling split screen that played out on cable news networks on Monday afternoon, police used tear gas to disperse peaceful protesters surrounding the White House grounds, as Trump delivered a speech in the Rose Garden in which he called himself “an ally of all peaceful protesters.” Trump then walked beyond the White House gates to a battered St John’s church to have his picture taken holding a Bible. Biden criticized the president’s photo op on Tuesday.
«In addition to the Bible, the president might also want to open the U.S. Constitution once in a while,» he said.
Source: FORBES (sp)
