In a speech in Darby, Pennsylvania, on safely reopening the economy, 2020 Democratic Presidential Nominee and former Vice President characterized Donald Trump as a failed, lazy, incompetent, and defeatist President who is still not ready for the office he currently holds.
Please view the video by clicking on the link below.
Joe Biden said and showed in his almost 20-minute address that he clearly is ready to be the President on January 20, 2021.
Remembering the fallen nine from Mother Emanuel in Charleston, South Carolina
Mr. Biden started his address by remembering the nine victims of a white supremacist killer in 2015 at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The former Vice President said:
“It (the murders) was hate unbridled, and it was poisonous, a poisonous expression of white supremacy that still infects our nation and many of our institutions and of the dangers we face as a society if we don’t root out this corrosive and deadly ideology.”
“When I reflect back on the amazing grace and compassion and forgiveness of the Mother Emanuel community, I see the very best in what we see in America as Americans, but we know that grace alone is not enough. We have to put it to work, that grace, and we’re seeing the best of America in that as well.”
Criticizing Trump’s and his teams failed leadership
Mr. Biden then pivoted to criticizing Trump’s failed, lazy, incompetent, and defeatist leadership during this period of the pandemic, economic distress, and civil strife.
Notable lines from his speech included:
- “On Monday, Donald Trump said, “If we stopped testing right now for COVID-19, we’d have very few cases if any.” If we stopped testing, we’d have very few cases if any. It’s a statement that’s not only absurd, it’s absolutely tragic.”
- “Yesterday,……… the vice president, claimed success in the fight because deaths are “down to fewer than 750 a day.” 750 fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, uncles, aunts, husbands, wives, children dying every day. More than 20,000 a month. That’s greater than World War II level casualties each month, that’s more than five 9/11s each month, and this administration is engaging in self-congratulations? Maybe good enough for Donald Trump, but it will never, ever be acceptable if I’m your president. Researchers have shown that tens of thousands of Americans have died needlessly because Donald Trump was slow to respond to the crisis and then when he did he bungled the response.”
- “The American people have sacrificed so much to fight this virus. We’ve lost lives, we’ve lost businesses, we’ve lost paychecks, and now thanks to Donald Trump’s bungling, we may lose some of the progress we begun to make. All because he’s lost interest. He’s once again ignoring the facts. The public health response is still woefully, woefully lacking from this administration.”
- “We still don’t have what we need when it comes to rapid results testing, contact tracing capacity, widely available personnel protective equipment for them, or clear nationwide guidance. Instead, President Trump pushes dangerous disproven drugs, stands in the way of the CDC issuing guidelines on reopening…”
- “…I guess there’s not much to do in spite of experts saying that testing and tracing is necessary for reopening, he sent his testing czar home. The money provided to the Pentagon for essential medical supplies, only 15%, only 15% has made it out the door.”
- “Donald Trump wants to style himself as a wartime president against this invisible enemy, the coronavirus. Unlike ….any other wartime leader, he takes no responsibility, he exercises no leadership, and now he’s just flat surrendering the fight. Instead of leading the charge to defeat the virus, he just basically waved a white flag and has retreated…. to get back on his campaign, to his campaign rallies that he’ll put people at risk as everyone’s pointed out, in violation of the CDC Guidelines that still warn against large gatherings …….. as long as the people showing up sign a waiver promising they’ll not hold the campaign liable…”
- “So it’s not that Donald Trump doesn’t recognize the importance of testing, it’s that he’s not up to the task or doesn’t care and now he’s seemingly decided he doesn’t even want to try, but just like he couldn’t wish COVID-19 away in March, just like he couldn’t tweet it away in April, he can’t ignore it away in June…”
- “Why don’t you disclose the names, Mr. President, of the businesses that received a total of $500 billion in taxpayer’s funding? Why are they being hidden? How many cronies got bailouts? How many donors? How many big businesses that didn’t need it? What business had to shut down because they were denied funding in April? What businesses didn’t get special approval that others got by a nod from the top? Why did you get rid of the watchdog, Mr. President? Why did you get rid of the watchdog, appointed to oversee every dollar distributed, an inspector general? Why did you get rid of that person the Congress passed? What are you trying to hide? It’s bad management on top of bad planning on top of neglect and it’s totally unacceptable for a great nation like ours.”
- “He wasted months and months and months passing the buck, blaming everyone else, refusing to act when he should have been preparing our country for a longterm response and building our resiliency to respond to future flareups…”
- “Mr. President, don’t leave the American people to face this threat on their own with no guidance, resources, or leadership from the federal government. Don’t let support from the CARES Act expire next month while people are still hurting. Don’t leave our frontline workers exposed without the resources they need and don’t waste any more of our time, Mr. President. The American people need confidence and clear guidance grounded in science that’s going to allow them to resume their daily lives. American businesses need the support of the federal government to continue to backstop them through this phases of reopening and workers need assurances that their health is your first concern. Americans need a president who will put the American people first, not his or her own ego. America needs a president who will do the work. I’m ready on Day One, after more than three years in office, why isn’t Donald Trump ready? Mr. President, wake up. Get to work.”
What Mr. Biden would do differently?
Intertwined with Mr. Biden’s critique of Mr. Trump’s faults, the former Vice President offered what he would do differently if he becomes President.
The Democratic nominee reminded the viewers that he alerted the nation to the dangers of the Coronavirus last winter, commenting:
“For weeks in January and February, I but I wasn’t alone, I was raising my concerns about how we need to take this virus seriously, all while Trump was ignoring the reporting from his own intelligence community in his daily briefings, and the warnings of his closest advisors, all the while praising the Chinese government for being transparent in handling this virus instead of demanding access for the CDC that Beijing was refusing to give in Wuhan.”
Biden then framed the conversation on how to make the reopening of the country “work for everyone,” saying:
“This isn’t a debate about whether to reopen. It’s about how we make reopening work for everyone. The employees at the White House, they get daily COVID-19 tests. They know they’re safe before they go to work and they know their co-workers are safe. They have the confidence to resume their lives. Workers across the country aren’t asking for daily testing. They’re just asking for regular, reliable access to tests. Don’t they deserve that?”
The former Vice President then pained broad brush strokes in saying what would be necessary moving forward. Notable excerpts from his address include:
“Folks, here’s the truth. The pandemic is still here. It’s going to be here for the foreseeable future until we get it under control or until we have safe and proven widely available vaccine. COVID-19 is a fact of nature. We have to deal with this virus and everything that comes with it. We have to deal with it head-on, honestly, tell the people the truth. To paraphrase Franklin Roosevelt in the Depression, the American people can handle anything, just tell them the truth…The only way to deal with it, Mr. President, if we put in the work, investing, and building a dynamic, resilient economy and health system capable of getting and then staying ahead of new outbreaks. We have the capacity and the resources to do that. I have laid out baseline steps of what needs to be done from make it work checklists for a successful accountable recovery that I put out back in early April to the steps for a strong reopening that I released last week. It’s not rocket science. Granted I have incredible scientists advising me on almost a daily basis on how to proceed, but it’s not rocket science, it’s common sense.”
“First, we have to do everything we can to avoid deadly spikes in the infections as people begin to back out into the world. We’re not that much better prepared today for the run of cases that overfills our intensive care units than we were three months ago. Second, we have to help give people the assurance and precautions that are necessary to restart the economy with confidence. If Americans lose what faith they have left, what little faith they have left in the government’s ability to manage this pandemic, we’ll see much deeper and longer-lasting economic impacts than we even, and with even greater repercussions for people’s well-being.”
While Mr. Biden did not provide many specifics on what he would do to safely reopen the country and economy (please click here to read Mr. Biden’s plan for reopening the country and economy,) he effectively demonstrated that he, unlike Mr. Trump, had the temperament, knowledge, empathy, and wisdom to assume the Presidency if he wins on November 3, 2020.
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