Joe Biden bashed President Donald Trump Tuesday as a 'conman' who appeals to the worst in Americans as he claimed the preside...
Joe Biden bashed President Donald Trump Tuesday as a 'conman' who appeals to the worst in Americans as he claimed the president has 'waved the white flag' in surrendering to the coronavirus pandemic.
The former vice president made his remarks in Warm Springs, Georgia, where he vowed to be the man who will 'heal this nation' as his son Hunter's daughter, Finnegan, joined him for the trip down south.
'Time and again throughout our history, we have seen the charlatans, the conmen, the phony populists — who have sought to play to our fears, appeal to our worst appetites, and pick at the oldest scabs we have for their own political gain,' Biden said during his campaign stop.
'They appear when the nation has been hit the hardest and we're at our most vulnerable,' he continued, in reference to Trump. 'Never to solve anything. Always to benefit themselves.'
Biden delivered the speech in a place freighted with meaning for his party: it was where Franklin D. Roosevelt sought healing as he battled polio in 1921, returned to repeatedly during his presidency, and where he died in 1945.
And even being president in Georgia in the last week of the campaign spoke to Democrats' belief that the southern state is within their grasp for the first time this century, with Biden inside the margin of error in a series of polls.
Biden then traveled to Atlanta for an unannounced drive-in rally in the city, where maximizing turnout is critical to any chance the Democrats have of turning the longtime red state blue.
As he took the stage he recrafted a long-time Biden joke saying: 'My name's Joe Biden. I'm Jill Biden's husband and I'm Kamala's running mate. Y'all think I'm kidding, don't you?'
The soundbite was immediately pounced on by the Trump campaign who claim Biden is a front for Harris and the left wing of the Democratic party. But it got a warm reception from the crowd. Biden needs to appeal to female and African-American voters in Georgia to win the state.
Biden rally: The candidate held an unannounced rally in the Atlanta neighborhood of Lakewood, joking: 'I'm Kamala's running mate.'
Reception: Joe Biden's supporters drove in to his rally at the Cellaris Amphitheatre in the Lakewood neighborhood of Atlanta
Here for Joe: The Democratic candidate needs Atlanta voters to come out in force if he has a hope of flipping the state for the first time this century.
Limited audience: Joe Biden stuck to his policy of not inviting large crowds to his events because of COVID and delivered his speech to activists and journalists separated in circles to enforce social distancing
Democratic nominee Joe Biden called Donald Trump a 'conman' during remarks in Warm Springs, Georgia Tuesday as he claimed the president has surrendered to the pandemic
Family affair: Joe Biden brought his sister Valerie Biden Owens and his granddaughter Finnegan - whose father is Hunter - on his plane. He was also accompanied by Louisiana Democratic congressman Cedric Richmond who is seen as likely to become a significant figure if there is a Biden administration
Biden's granddaughter, Hunter's daughter, Finnegan Biden (right) joined the former vice president for his campaign stop in the southern state
'And the president keeps telling us not to worry. He keeps telling us 'we're turning the corner'. It's as removed from reality and as offensive,' the Democratic nominee lamented.
'Time and again throughout our history, we have seen the charlatans, the conmen, the phony populists — who have sought to play to our fears, appeal to our worst appetites, and pick at the oldest scabs we have for their own political gain,' Biden said, referring to Trump
In Hot Springs, however, Biden used the moral high ground of quoting Pope Francis, who has been an open critic of Trump since his candidacy in 2015, to hit his opponent. He quoted the pope's words from a recent official church communication to lambaste 'phony' populists who appeal to the 'basest and most selfish' instinct and directed them at Trump.
'In his recent encyclical Pope Francis warns us against this phony populism that appeals to the 'basest and most selfish' instincts,' Biden said. 'Then he says this: 'Politics is something more noble than posturing, marketing and media spin. These sow nothing but division, conflict and a bleak cynicism'
'Pope Francis has asked questions that anyone who seeks to lead this great nation should answer,' Biden said, referring to his question on why people seek leadership.
'And my answer is this: To unite this nation. To heal this nation,' Biden said.
For much of his remarks at Mountaintop Inn & Resort in Warm Springs, Biden focused on the president's response to the coronavirus pandemic, which he has deemed dismal and has been one of the major attack lines of the former vice president's campaign.
'Today we are facing a public health crisis of historic proportions, and with winter at hand, it's getting worse,' Biden said, repeating his notion that Americans are heading into a 'dark winter' with the threat of COVID-19 still looming.
'And the president keeps telling us not to worry. He keeps telling us 'we're turning the corner'. It's as removed from reality and as offensive,' the Democratic nominee lamented.
'In the spring the President declared that as commander in chief he was going to wage war on the virus,' he continued. 'Instead, he's shrugged. He's swaggered. And he's surrendered.'
Trump's campaign manager Tim Murtaugh claimed Biden's remarks are 'despicable' and that America 'would be in a worse position today if he had been president at the time' of the COVID-19 outbreak.
'Joe Biden today continued his despicable politicization of the coronavirus crisis, while being completely unburdened by the responsibility of leadership,' Murtaugh said in a statement on the matter. 'While President Trump led the nation in the unprecedented battle against the Chinese virus, Biden sat in his basement and suggested nothing that President Trump had not already done or was not already doing.'
'Worse, Biden has actively tried to frighten people away from taking the life-saving vaccine when it is ready, preferring instead to score political points at the cost of people's lives,' he said.
Murtaugh called Biden the 'candidate of lockdowns.'
Biden took a hit at Trump's top aide, Mark Meadows.
'And then his Chief of Staff makes a stunning admission. Saying, quote, 'we're not going to control the pandemic,' Biden said, referencing Meadows talking over the weekend of the White House coronavirus strategy.
'It's a capitulation — a waving of the white flag,' he added.
'And it's a window into a shocking truth about this White House. They never even tried,' Biden claimed.
Meadows revealed Sunday that the White House is focusing on creating and distributing therapies and a vaccine for coronavirus, rather than mitigate the threat and stop the spread.
'In his recent encyclical Pope Francis warns us against this phony populism that appeals to the 'basest and most selfish' instincts,' Biden said in reference to the affect Trump has on Americans
Biden quoted the Pope in taking aim at Trump – who Pope Francis has been critical of since his candidacy in 2016
Freighted with meaning: FDR tried to find healing at Warm Springs after being diagnosed with polio in 1921, returned there repeatedly including (left) in 1932, and died on April 12, 1945, at the Little White House there (right)
'Here's what we have to do. We're not going to control the pandemic, we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigations,' Meadows said in his interview with CNN.
'Why aren't we going to get control of the pandemic?' CNN's Jake Tapper asked.
'Because it is a contagious virus, just like the flu,' Meadows reasoned.
He assured the White House is still making efforts to 'contain' the virus but not to 'control' it.
Biden went on the offensive in his Tuesday stop in Georgia, a red state that is now considered to be a 'toss up' in the 2020 presidential election by Cook Political Report.
The state, which has 16 Electoral College votes, went 50.4 per cent for Trump in 2016.
The location was also significant since it has been lauded for potentially having 'healing' or therapeutic properties in the warm mineral springs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt would frequent the town to bathe and exercise in the water as he was diagnosed with Polio and eventually became paralyzed - and died there in 1945.
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