On June 2, former Vice President Joe Biden spoke at Philadelphia’s City Hall to condemn Donald Trump’s shameful response to the nationwide protests against police brutality following George Floyd’s killing.
Biden’s speech also addressed how we might move forward as a country after the coronavirus pandemic and the protests against systemic racism. He said that “the president of the United States must be part of the solution, not part of the problem.” Biden also expanded on the scope of Trump’s leadership failures during his presidency, including the ongoing nominations of hundreds of extreme judicial nominees that Sen. Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are confirming at breakneck speed.
Biden said, “If Mitch McConnell can bring in the United States Senate to confirm Trump’s unqualified judicial nominees, who will run roughshod over our Constitution, it’s time to pass legislation that will give true meaning to our constitutional promise of equal protection under the law.”
As Trump-appointed justices and judges have recently issued decisions weaponizing the pandemic to attack our constitutional right to vote in the 2020 elections and enable police violence against Black Americans, Biden’s comments are particularly salient, and serve as a reminder of the damage Trump appointees can inflict on the American people – and of how critical it is that we all vote for senators who confirm judges who protect our rights instead of threaten them.