Speaking in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden passionately laid out the failures of the Trump administration to keep the American people safe relating to racial injustice, the economy and on international battlegrounds.
“The incumbent president is incapable of telling the truth, incapable of facing the facts and incapable of healing,” Biden declared, saying the names of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two people killed by police and whose names President Trump rarely, if ever, said.
Biden also undercut another Trump talking point, declaring: “Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting. None of this is protesting.” Trump has repeatedly said Biden hasn’t condemned violence in cities.
“We have a president who fans the flames rather than fighting the flames.” Biden said noting that Trump himself has refused to denounce right-wing violence. “This president abdicated any moral leadership in this country.”
Biden also took a subtle swipe at Trump’s history of catering to people who support him politically and financially. “I’m in this campaign for you, no matter your color, no matter your ZIP code, no matter your politics.”
Going back to Trump’s claims that a Biden Administration would devolve the nation into a lawless state, Biden implored listeners, “Ask yourself: do I look like a radical social who has a soft spot for rioting and looting?”
Biden also pointed out the dystopian America that republicans repeatedly illustrated in the republican National Convention last week: “These are not images of some imaged ‘Joe Biden’ America in the future. These are images of Donald Trump’s America today.”
“When President Obama and I were in office, we didn’t see these cities as Democratic or republican cities,” Biden said. “They are American cities.”
Asking if the American people feel safer under Trump, Biden noted, “The murder rate is up 26% across this nation under Donald Trump.” Biden also noted Trump’s efforts to defund Social Security, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, minimize the impact of the coronavirus and undermine the rule of law.
Noting reports that Russia put bounties on US troops in Afghanistan and that Russian troops attacked US troops in Syria, Biden asked, “Did you hear the president say one word? Did he lift one finger?”
“I am not banning fracking. Let me say that again: I am not banning fracking, no matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me,” Biden pointed out once again falsehoods the Trump campaign propagates. Fracking is a large industry in many swing states, particularly Pennsylvania, from which Biden spoke.
Biden noted that Trump’s talking points are all based on lies about Biden and Biden’s policies, saying Trump cannot run on his record because his record is that of failure.
“That’s what his entire campaign comes down to: fear.”