Joe Biden Will Slam Trump’s Church Stunt, Promise to ‘Heal Racial Wounds’ in Philadelphia Speech

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Former Vice President Joe Biden will give a speech in Philadelphia addressing the unrest over the killing of George Floyd, during which he will take aim at President Donald Trump’s photo op at  St. John’s Episcopal Church, according to excerpts of the address obtained by Mediaite.

The presumptive Democratic nominee will deliver the address at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning from City Hall, but excerpts from Biden’s prepared remarks give a strong indication of what the speech will be like — cutting at Trump and promising something better.

In the first excerpt, Biden links Mr. Floyd’s now-famous and all-too-familiar dying declaration to the suffering that undergirds the protests that have swept the nation:

“I can’t breathe.” “I can’t breathe.”

George Floyd’s last words. But they didn’t die with him. They’re still being heard. They’re echoing across this nation.

They speak to a nation where too often just the color of your skin puts your life at risk. They speak to a nation where more than 100,000 people have lost their lives to a virus and 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment – with a disproportionate number of these deaths and job losses concentrated in the black and minority communities.

And they speak to a nation where every day millions of people – not at the moment of losing their life – but in the course of living their life – are saying to themselves, “I can’t breathe”.

It’s a wake-up call for our nation. For all of us.

In the second excerpt, Mr. Biden calls out Trump’s photo op, which has now been released as a campaign-style video by The White House.

When peaceful protestors are dispersed by the order of the 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 a noble church, we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle.

More interested in serving the passions of his base than the needs of the people in his care.

For that’s what the presidency is: a duty of care—to all of us, not just our voters, not just our donors, but all of us.

The former VP will also project humility while promising to heal the nation — while further contrasting himself with Trump.

Look, the presidency is a big job. Nobody will get everything right. And I won’t either.

But I promise you this. I won’t traffic in fear and division. I won’t fan the flames of hate.

I will seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued this country – not use them for political gain.

I’ll do my job and take responsibility. I won’t blame others. I’ll never forget that the job isn’t about me.

It’s about you. And I’ll work to not only rebuild this nation. But to build it better than it was.

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