Las Vegas.- President Joe Biden returned to the campaign trail following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, urging calming political tensions even as he framed Trump’s agenda as a “hell” for African Americans.
Biden’s 30-minute speech at an NAACP conference in the crucial swing state of Nevada, one of the longest addresses he has given in recent weeks, amounted to a sales pitch to the Black voters who helped carry him to the White House in 2020.
It was also Biden’s attempt to counterprogram the Republican National Convention, where Trump allies have made a concerted effort to build support among black voters.
“There is a truth to why Donald Trump’s presidency was hell for Black America,” Biden said, as he detailed the Trump administration’s plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, cut corporate taxes and address the pandemic.
“His mismanagement of the pandemic was especially devastating for Black communities.”
Biden’s comments revealed the competing priorities that have emerged from an extraordinary three weeks of campaigning.
He is seeking to present himself as a guardian of democracy, lowering the political temperature following a violent attack on his opponent.
But amid plummeting poll numbers and calls for him to drop his re-election bid following a disastrous debate performance, he must prove to panicked Democrats that he can be a fierce presence on the campaign trail capable of vigorously prosecuting the case once morest Trump.
The fierce attacks also signaled a sense of urgency in the White House to rebuild support among black voters as polls show Republicans making gains with them.
Black voters have been a cornerstone of the Democratic coalition, and their erosion has contributed to Biden lagging in Nevada and other key states.
While the president spent much of the day trying to refocus his campaign message to address voters’ economic frustrations, the tumult of recent weeks loomed over the trip.
“Our politics have become too heated,” Biden said, adding that he was grateful Trump was not seriously injured when a would-be assassin’s bullet grazed his ear at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
“We all have a responsibility to lower the temperature and condemn violence in any form.”
In his speech, he also appeared to acknowledge Democrats who called on him to resign by quoting former President Harry S. Truman.
“History goes that Truman said: If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog,” Biden said.
Democrats, some of whom fear he will not be up to the job he plans to hold until he is 86, have demanded that Biden prove he can run a grueling campaign, and he kept up a full schedule Tuesday.
He sat in on an interview with Black Entertainment Television, spoke at an economic forum hosted by the leader of the Congressional Black Caucus and made a surprise visit to employees of a soul food market, where he ordered catfish, peach cobbler, chicken breasts and spaghetti.
Biden’s presentation, which members of his own party are watching nervously, was generally passionate and forceful, even though it relied on a teleprompter.
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2024-07-19 06:09:57
