Speaking at City Hall Tuesday morning as the country buckled under the combined strains of police brutality, protests, riots and the coronavirus, Joe Biden condemned President Donald Trump’s leadership and vowed to put reconciliation and healing at the forefront of his presidency.
The former vice president called demonstrations across the country “a wake-up call for our nation” and repeated the words uttered by George Floyd before he was killed while Minneapolis police knelt on his neck: “I can’t breathe.”
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“It’s not the first time we’ve heard those words,” Biden said, referencing the 2014 death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York police. “But it’s time to listen to those words. To try and understand them. To respond to them. Respond with action.”
Watch the full speech below:
"'I can't breathe. I can't breathe.' George Floyd's last words, but they didn't die with him," Joe Biden says.
"They're still being heard echoing all across this nation. They speak to a nation where too often just the color of your skin puts your life at risk," the fmr. VP adds. pic.twitter.com/fu3EPBlndU
“A country is crying out for leadership,” Biden added in his election day appearance. “Leadership that can unite us, leadership that brings us together. Leadership that can recognize pain and the grief of communities that have had a knee on their neck for a long time."
During his speech, delivered following a third night of protests in Philadelphia, Biden called out looters that have ransacked cities following demonstrations against police brutality. But he also pointed the finger at police officers, who at times have “escalated tension” amid otherwise peaceful demonstrations.
Joel Charleston, back center, talks with Brenda Goode, front right, as people line up to vote at the Free Library Falls of Schuykill Branch, on Election Day in Philadelphia, June 02, 2020.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
Alex Sargent, left, signs in to vote, with volunteer Melanie Wilson, right, on election day in Philadelphia, at the Free Library Falls of Schuykill Branch, in East Falls, in Philadelphia, June 02, 2020.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
Kat Wilson (center right) votes in a booth with her sons Asher (center left), 3, and Colton (not visible), 1, at the Cruz Recreation Center in Philadelphia's Ludlow section on Pennsylvania's primary election day, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Bridget Mason, volunteer for state senate candidate Nikil Saval, distributes hand sanitizer to voters at the precinct at the Bache-Martin School in Philadelphia, Pa. on Tuesday, June 2, 2020.Read moreMONICA HERNDON / Staff Photographer
Stickers, masks and pamphlets sit on a table outside of the Marian Anderson Recreation Center on Election Day in Philadelphia on Tuesday, June 02, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city for people to vote from on Pennsylvania's primary election day due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
Hassim, left, signs in voter Larry Gurganious, center, on election day in Philadelphia, at the Free Library Falls of Schuykill Branch, in East Falls, June 02, 2020.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
Kat Wilson (right) votes in a booth with her sons Asher (second from right), 3, and Colton (not visible), 1, at the Cruz Recreation Center in Philadelphia's Ludlow section on Pennsylvania's primary election day, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
People are reflected in plastic barriers, used to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, at the Cruz Recreation Center polling place in Philadelphia's Ludlow section on Pennsylvania's primary election day, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Poll workers Mayra Padilla (left) and Jahaira Romero (second from left) sign in voters behind a plastic barrier used to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus at the Cruz Recreation Center in Philadelphia's Ludlow section on Pennsylvania's primary election day, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
People line up to vote at the Free Library Falls of Schuykill Branch, on Election Day in Philadelphia, June 02, 2020.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
A man peels off a sticker at the Free Library Falls of Schuykill Branch, on Election Day in Philadelphia, June 02, 2020.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
People line up to vote at the Free Library Falls of Schuykill Branch, on Election Day in Philadelphia, June 02, 2020.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
Voters sign in at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center on Election Day in Philadelphia on Tuesday, June 02, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city for people to vote from on Pennsylvania's primary election day due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
Campaign materials line a wall at the polling place at the Greenfield School in Philadelphia, Pa. on Tuesday, June 2, 2020.Read moreMONICA HERNDON / Staff Photographer
Kirk Boyer, right, hands out stickers to voters as they exit the Marian Anderson Recreation Center on Election Day in Philadelphia on Tuesday, June 02, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city for people to vote from on Pennsylvania's primary election day due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
Kristina Scuderi (left) hands out masks that read “Vote Donatucci” outside the polling place at the Guerin Recreation Center during the primary election in Philadelphia, Pa. on June 2, 2020. Scuderi was working for State Rep candidate Maria Donatucci.Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer
Masking tape on the ground directs voters at the precinct at the Bache-Martin School in Philadelphia, Pa. on Tuesday, June 2, 2020.Read moreMONICA HERNDON / Staff Photographer
Voters sign in at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center on Election Day in Philadelphia on Tuesday, June 02, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city for people to vote from on Pennsylvania's primary election day due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
Handwritten signage directs voters to the polling place at the Greenfield School in Philadelphia, Pa. on Tuesday, June 2, 2020.Read moreMONICA HERNDON / Staff Photographer
Dozens of voters line up outside Masjidullah in Philadelphia's East Mount Airy section on Pennsylvania's primary election day, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Dozens of voters line up outside Masjidullah in Philadelphia's East Mount Airy section on Pennsylvania's primary election day, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
People line up to vote at the Free Library Falls of Schuykill Branch, on Election Day in Philadelphia, June 02, 2020.Read moreALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer
James Patterson, of North Wales, Pa., speaks with people to vote for Andy Meehan, for Congress 1st District, at a polling station at Montgomery Elementary School on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. “He’s a great person,” Patterson said. “I like the way Trump is running the country, not a guy I would hang out with. I would hire Andy and hang out with him.”Read moreTYGER WILLIAMS / Staff Photographer
A voter walks towards the back of the gym at Pennbrook Middle School where her district polling station is held on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Pennbrook Middle School has Upper Gwynedd districts one, three, and seven for people to come and vote.Read moreTYGER WILLIAMS / Staff Photographer
Gary Pagliaro, 58, of Horsham, Pa., stands outside of a polling station at Montgomery Elementary School handing voters a Republican ballot and encouraging them to support Jim Worthington, running for Delegate to the Republican National Convention 1st District, on Tuesday, June 2, 2020.Read moreTYGER WILLIAMS / Staff Photographer
Dozens of voters line up outside Masjidullah in Philadelphia's East Mount Airy section on Pennsylvania's primary election day, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Voters line up outside Lingelbach Elementary School in Philadelphia's Germantown section on Pennsylvania's primary election day, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Patricia Murray looks at a sample ballot as she waits in line to vote at Lingelbach Elementary School in Philadelphia's Germantown section on Pennsylvania's primary election day, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Voters line up inside Lingelbach Elementary School in Philadelphia's Germantown section on Pennsylvania's primary election day, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. There were fewer polling locations across the city due to the coronavirus pandemic.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Primary voting in the Royersford Julie Hendricks with her children Aria 5, Gaar and Aidan 3, Gaar, Tuesday, June 2, 2020Read moreSteven M. Falk / File Photograph
Primary voting in Schuylkill Township Lisa Deywiler-Sifford running for Republican County Committee takes a break while working the polls. Turnout was light. Tuesday, June 2, 2020Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer
“We need to distinguish between legitimize peaceful protest and opportunistic violent destruction,” Biden said.
“When peaceful protesters are dispersed by the order for a president, from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House — using tear gas and flash grenades in order to stage a photo op at one of the most historic churches in the country… we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle,” Biden said.
“The president of the United States must be part of the solution, not the problem,” Biden added. “This president today is part of the problem, and accelerates it.”
I report on Pennsylvania's Congressional delegation in Washington, how federal policy impacts Pennsylvania residents, and voting trends and demographic shifts in the nation's biggest battleground.
