据拜登的高级顾问西蒙·桑德斯(Symone Sanders)说，在乔治·弗洛伊德(George Floyd)在明尼阿波利斯被警方击毙后，全国各地爆发抗议活动，呼吁进行系统性变革。前副总统、民主党总统候选人乔·拜登(Joe Biden)意识到，越来越多的人呼吁他选择一位有色人种的女性作为竞选伙伴。
“他绝对是。他听到了全国人民的担忧，他们要求一位非洲裔美国女性副总统竞选伙伴，但也有来自拉丁裔社区的人说，他应该选择一位拉丁裔。桑德斯周三在美国广播公司的“观点”节目中说:“有些人认为他应该选择一个代表同性恋、双性恋、变性者和变性者群体的人。
“你的观点得到了很好的理解，我必须告诉你，如果你今天问乔·拜登，他会说他不知道要选谁，但他可以向你保证，他要选的人将在第一天准备好执政，将反映他和奥巴马总统的关系，可能是一个黑人妇女，但我们还不知道。我们将拭目以待，”桑德斯补充道。
随着对切实警务改革的呼声日益高涨，该运动还试图与唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统形成鲜明对比。桑德斯周三辩称，总统已“放弃”在这一问题上的领导权，而是“躲在一个地堡里”，指的是有报道称，特朗普因本月早些时候在白宫附近的抗议活动日益增多而被带到一个安全的地方。
“我们认为唐纳德·特朗普已经放弃了他的领导地位。当副总统拜登外出巡视发生在他自己城市的骚乱时，唐纳德·特朗普在哪里?上周，他住在特拉华州的威尔明顿，离这里只有几英里。他在一个掩体里...“躲在掩体里，”桑德斯说。
桑德斯还指出，前国防部长詹姆斯·马蒂斯(James Mattis)等前国防高官对特朗普的批评表明，即使在共和党人中间，也有越来越多的人认为总统必须在11月被击败。
“长期的共和党人在大声疾呼。以前说过永远不会说出来的人。马蒂斯说他会保持安静...他没想到人们会这么早出来说些什么。但唐纳德·特朗普自己的行为让人们可能从未想过会站出来说话，或者在此刻站出来反对他，”桑德斯说。
由于冠状病毒大流行，拜登经历了数月的虚拟竞选活动，抗议活动也让他回到了实体竞选的道路上。前副总统与社区领袖举行会议，并发表讲话，阐述全国各地酝酿的不满情绪。
拜登在露面时，试图将自己塑造成一个团结的人物，在抗议活动的动荡和仍在影响该国的COVID-19的健康和经济影响的余波中领导该国。
“我看到你了。我听到了，我也很生气。我们必须将我们的痛苦转化为目标，并利用这一时刻，最终推动我们文化中的法律和制度发生真正的变化。正如我所说，历史告诉我们，在一些最黑暗的时刻，我们取得了最大的进步，”拜登上周在一次与美国年轻人的竞选活动中说道。
2020年2月29日，在北卡罗来纳州罗利圣奥古斯丁大学的竞选活动中，民主党总统候选人、前副总统乔·拜登向支持者微笑
2020年2月29日，在北卡罗来纳州罗利圣奥古斯丁大学的竞选活动中，民主党总统候选人、前副总统乔·拜登向支持者微笑格里·布鲁姆/美联社照片
拜登还就特朗普对抗议活动的处理方式与他进行了交锋，称特朗普是“问题的一部分”，并批评了他的煽动性言论和行动，尤其是上周他使用武力清除了白宫附近的和平抗议活动。
就特朗普而言，他试图将拜登与“解散警察”运动联系在一起，该运动在全国范围的抗议活动后在一些进步的民主党人中获得了支持——拜登曾表示他不支持这一运动。
“虽然我不认为联邦资金应该流向侵犯人民权利或把暴力作为第一手段的警察部门，但我不支持解散警察。更好的答案是给警察部门实施有意义的改革所需的资源，并以其他联邦资金完成这些改革为条件，”拜登在周三的一篇专栏文章中写道。
Biden 'hears' calls for black woman VP but hasn't made a decision: senior adviser
Amid nationwide protests sweeping the nation calling for systemic change following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police, former vice president and presumptive Democratic Nominee Joe Biden is aware of the increased calls for him to choose a woman of color as his running mate, according to Biden’s senior adviser, Symone Sanders.
"He absolutely is. He hears the concerns of folks across this country who have asked for an African American woman vice president running mate, but also folks from the Latino community have said he should pick a Latina. There are folks that believe he should pick someone that represents the LGBTQ+ community," Sanders said in an appearance on ABC’s "The View" on Wednesday.
“Your points are well taken, and I will have to tell you that if you were to ask Joe Biden today, he would say he doesn't know who he's going to pick, but he can promise you that the person he will pick will be ready to govern on day one, will mirror the relationship he and President Obama had, and it could be a black woman but we just don't know yet. We'll have to wait and see,” Sanders added.
The campaign is also seeking to draw a sharp contrast with President Donald Trump as calls for tangible police reform grow, and Sanders argued Wednesday that the president had “abdicated” leadership on the issue and is instead “hiding in a bunker,” a reference to reports that Trump was taken to a secure location in the White House due to growing protests in the vicinity of the complex earlier this month.
"We believe that Donald Trump has abdicated his position of leadership. When Vice President Biden was out touring the unrest that happened in his own city just a couple miles from where he lived in Wilmington, Delaware last week, where was Donald Trump? He was in a bunker...hiding in a bunker," Sanders said.
Sanders also pointed to criticism of Trump from former top defense officials like former Defense Secretary James Mattis as evidence that there is a growing attitude even among Republicans that the president must be defeated in November.
"Long-standing Republicans are speaking out. People who said they would never speak out before. Mattis said he was going to stay quiet...he wasn't expecting people to come out and say something this early. But Donald Trump's own actions have brought folks whom people probably never thought would speak up, or speak out against him to do so in this moment," Sanders said.
The protests have also brought Biden back on to the physical campaign trail after months of virtual campaigning due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the former vice president holding meetings with community leaders and giving remarks to address the simmering frustrations across the country.
In his appearances, Biden has sought to pitch himself as a unifying figure to lead the country amid the turmoil of protests and fallout from the health and economic impacts of COVID-19 still impacting the country.
"I see you. I hear you, and I'm angry as well. We have to turn our anguish into purpose and use this moment to finally drive real change into our laws and institutions in our culture. Now as I said history teaches us that out of some of our darkest moments we made our greatest progress," Biden said during a campaign event with young Americans last week.
Biden has also traded fire with President Trump over his handling of the protests, calling Trump "part of the problem," and criticizing his incendiary words and actions, particularly around his use of force to clear a peaceful protest near the White House last week.
For his part, Trump has tried to tie Biden to the "defund the police" movement that has gained traction among some progressive Democrats in the wake of the country-wide protests -- a movement Biden has said he does not support.
