Joe Biden's speech blames POLICE for riots, rips Trump's hardball approach – is this the unity he's pushing for?
By ralphflores // 2020-06-05
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On Tuesday morning, former vice president Joe Biden spoke about the violence that has convulsed the country following the death of George Floyd. His speech, which he delivered in Philadephia’s city hall, has been praised by mainstream media outlets. The New York Times said that Biden gave “his closest approximation yet of a presidential address to the nation,” while the left-leaning Washington Post declared that it was “the presidential speech” people needed. What mainstream news outfits won’t tell you, however, was how Biden also excoriated law enforcement. In his speech, the presumptive Democratic nominee blamed the police, saying that they escalated tension across the nation. He stated this claim the morning after protests for Floyd descended into violence and looting in many cities. The former vice president called out violent protests but also shifted blame to the police:
There’s no place for violence, no place for looting or destroying property or burning churches or destroying businesses, many of them built by the very people of color who are [for] the first time in their lives are beginning to realize their dreams and build wealth for their families. Nor is it acceptable for our police, sworn to protect and serve all people, to escalate tension, resort to excessive violence. We need to distinguish between legitimate, peaceful protests and opportunistic violent destruction.
In response, the president’s campaign stood by Trump’s approach to the crisis. “President Trump has addressed the nation twice, expressed horror and sorrow for the death of George Floyd, stood with the peaceful protesters, and made it clear that he would not abide our cities being overtaken by violent, uncontrollable rioters,” the campaign said in a statement. (Related: The Antifa rioters, looters, arsonists, vandals, and murderers have at least one confirmed ally in Congress: AOC.) The Trump campaign also criticized Biden’s speech, accusing him of “stand[ing] with the rioters.” It also reported that people from the former vice president’s staff paid the bail for people arrested by the police during the clashes. Listen to Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he talks about how the George Floyd murder was set off to instigate race riots across America.

Former White House official dismisses speech as “campaign claptrap”

A former White House official weighed in on Biden’s speech, saying that is was nothing more than “campaign claptrap.” In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, former deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove dismissed the speech, saying that while it was eloquent at times, it was still made to rack votes in November. “That was the problem. About four minutes into the speech, he starts going after President Trump by name,” Rove added. “What America wanted to hear was a voice of unity. They didn’t want to hear campaign claptrap -- and it was.” In the 20-minute speech, Biden called the protests a “wake-up call.” He promised to combat systemic racism with “long-overdue concrete changes.” He also spent a good deal of his time blasting the president, saying that Trump “is part of the problem and accelerates it.” He even took aim at Trump being photographed at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington. Rove emphasized that the former vice president lacing into Trump isn’t in keeping with his message of unity. He adds that while Biden has accused the president of “wanting to quiet our voice,” he’s not faring any better. The former White House official said that contrary to his message of unity, Biden’s speech drove into politics even deeper. “I thought he had a chance to become, as Politico said, more relevant,” Rove added, referring to an article in Politico that questioned Biden’s relevance, “but he would become more relevant by taking this away from politics, not diving into politics.” Sources include: NYTimes.com Newsbreak.com Breitbart.com FoxNews.com
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