前副总统乔·拜登攻击总统唐纳德·特朗普周一下午，他在匹兹堡的一次演讲中谈到了美国对警察暴力引发的民间骚乱的处理，这是他自20世纪80年代以来第一次亲临竞选现场民主国民大会两周前。
这位民主党候选人使用了他迄今为止最犀利的语言，声称特朗普只是在基诺沙的街道上升级了暴力，威斯康星州、和俄勒冈州波特兰市，这两个城市在过去的一周里都发生了暴力冲突，导致了致命的枪击事件。
“这位总统很久以前就失去了这个国家的任何道德领导。他无法阻止暴力，因为多年来他一直在煽动暴力。”“他可能认为，口口声声说‘法律和秩序’让他变得强大，但他未能呼吁自己的支持者停止在这个国家充当武装民兵，这让你看到了他是多么软弱。”
2020年8月31日，匹兹堡米尔19号，民主党总统候选人、前美国副总统乔·拜登在竞选活动中讲话。
但值得注意的是，拜登——特朗普的白宫指责他在暴力问题上不够强硬——一开始就说，“我想把事情说得非常清楚。”我会清楚这一切的。暴乱不是抗议。抢劫不是抗议。放火不是抗议。这些都不是抗议。这是无法无天。简单明了。那些这样做的人应该受到起诉。”
“暴力不会带来改变。它只会带来毁灭。这在任何方面都是错误的。它分裂而不是团结，摧毁企业，只会伤害为社区服务的工薪家庭。它让事情变得更糟，而不是更好。不，这不是金博士或约翰·刘易斯教的。它必须结束。”“火在燃烧——我们有一位总统在煽风点火。”
“暴乱不是抗议，抢劫不是抗议...暴力不会带来改变，只会带来毁灭。”https://t.co/LsgGqliuAU
“我们不能燃烧，我们必须建设。”pic.twitter.com/qutprh6haq
——美国广播公司新闻直播(@美国广播公司新闻直播)2020年8月31日
拜登的讲话旨在反驳副总统迈克·彭斯上周在共和党全国代表大会上的说法，即“在拜登的美国，你不会安全。”
“有人认为如果唐纳德·特朗普再次当选，美国的暴力事件会减少吗?我们美国需要正义。我们需要美国的安全，”拜登在大约15-20人面前说，其中大部分是记者、摄像人员和特工人员，一小群支持者在外面等候。
前副总统乔·拜登(左)在德尔威尔明顿接受2020年民主党总统候选人提名。，2020年8月20日。右图:2020年8月27日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在华盛顿白宫南草坪接受共和党总统提名。
拜登抨击特朗普和彭斯抨击“乔·拜登的美国”，抨击讽刺的是，目前是他们的政府在掌权。他说，随着特朗普“火上浇油”，他们谴责的暴力行为越来越严重
“他本应该保护这个国家，但他却支持混乱和暴力。简单的事实是唐纳德·特朗普没能保护美国。所以现在他想吓唬美国。”
“我们在唐纳德·特朗普的《美国》中看到的暴力。这些不是一些想象中的未来乔·拜登的形象，而是唐纳德·特朗普的今日美国。他一直告诉你，如果他是总统，那就不会发生，如果他是总统，他一直告诉你，如果他是总统，你会感到安全。不管他是否知道，他都是总统，而且这正在发生。”
“火在燃烧，我们有一位总统在煽风点火。”
乔·拜登说:“这位总统很久以前就丧失了在这个国家的任何道德领导力。”“他无法阻止暴力，因为多年来他一直在煽动暴力。”https://t.co/U0gLQJ98Gfpic.twitter.com/Wuis27Hhtt
——美国广播公司新闻政治(@美国广播公司政治)2020年8月31日
拜登试图将同时发生的危机——新冠肺炎大流行、大流行的经济后果以及与警察相关的暴力——与特朗普的任期联系起来。
“共同的主线?现任总统只会让事情变得更糟，而不是更好。”"现任总统散播混乱而不是提供秩序."
将信息转回他所说的特朗普对美国的大规模不当处理冠状病毒拜登说，美国人生活在恐惧之中，直接原因是总统的不作为。
“特朗普先生，你想谈谈恐惧吗?如果你知道美国人害怕什么?害怕他们会得到COVID。他说:“我担心他们会生病和死亡，这在很大程度上是因为你。”
拜登没有隐瞒自己的观点，即特朗普会不惜一切代价保住权力，他在过去四年的“有毒存在”对美国来说是一剂“毒药”。
拜登说:“在这场竞选中，我们已经到了一个我们都知道的时刻，包括站在我面前的总统在内，我们都知道我们会走到这一步:唐纳德·特朗普会不顾一切，不惜一切代价保住权力。”
“四年来，唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)一直是我们国家的一个有害存在。毒害了我们的交流方式。毒害我们对待彼此的方式。毒害这个国家一直珍视的价值观。毒害我们的民主。”
但是拜登也强调了未来的希望，如果他当选的话。
“特朗普试图按照自己的形象重塑这个国家:自私、愤怒、黑暗和分裂。这不是我们。他说:“在我们的最佳状态下，美国一直都是——如果我要说什么的话——它将再次成为一个慷慨、自信、乐观、充满希望和决心的国家。”
拜登还接受了特朗普的另一项指控，这一指控对竞争激烈的宾夕法尼亚州至关重要。
“我不是在禁止水力压裂。让我再说一遍:我不会禁止水力压裂。不管唐纳德·特朗普对此撒了多少次谎。”
“你了解我。你知道我的心。你知道我的故事...问问你自己:我看起来像一个激进的社会主义者，对暴徒情有独钟吗?真的吗?!”https://t.co/YnBvQefdCbpic.twitter.com/4FjRgOoIhP
—埃文·麦克默里(@evanmcmurry)2020年8月31日
当特朗普准备在周二访问克诺沙时，拜登(目前没有前往威斯康星州的计划)正受到特朗普白宫的压力。
在晚间新闻发布会上，总统回击了拜登的讲话，并声称这是民主党煽动暴力的言论。
特朗普开始了他的讲话:“我们在最近几周和几个月看到的暴力和破坏的浪潮发生在拜登-乔·拜登党完全控制和支配的城市。”“极左政客妖魔化我们的国家和警察的危险言论助长了暴力。”
特朗普称拜登的讲话“很奇怪”，还说拜登在讲话中没有承认“左翼暴力”和“反法西斯主义”，尽管特朗普认为这两者都是积极的威胁。
“他提到了执法、警察，但他没有提到反法西斯。我想知道为什么。如果他不能说出问题的名称，他就无法解决问题。”“事实上，拜登会给反法西斯党他们想要的东西——他们所要求的极左政策，如果这种情况发生，我们就没有多少国家了。”
值得注意的是，拜登在讲话中谴责了暴力和暴乱分子，并表示他相信自己是将警察和为种族正义而战的抗议者带到谈判桌前的候选人。
她说，白宫新闻秘书凯丽·麦克纳尼在特朗普访问克诺沙之前也赞扬了他的“露面”，不像拜登。
“这位总统出现了。他这个周末出现在德克萨斯州。他出现在路易斯安那州。他明天会出现在克诺沙，”麦克纳尼周一早上在“福克斯和朋友”节目中说。“这位总统四处奔走，重新开放这个国家，实际上是到美国人民受到伤害的地方去，以此表明他对美国人民的尊重。”
白宫新闻处。凯丽·麦克纳尼说普雷斯。特朗普没有计划在周二访问威斯康星州的克诺沙期间会见雅各布·布莱克的家人。https://t.co/ZVve92aCtdpic.twitter.com/mzpP4MY671
——美国广播公司新闻政治(@美国广播公司政治)2020年8月31日
她补充说:“民主党忽视了威斯康星州，因为他们在2016年。”
2016年，特朗普成为自1984年罗纳德·里根(Ronald Reagan)以来首位赢得该州的共和党人。
拜登在开始讲话时似乎承认了早些时候的攻击。
“最近几天，我们已经谈了很多关于谁去哪里以及我如何决定来匹兹堡谈一谈现在正在发生的事情。”在第二次世界大战初期，富兰克林·罗斯福对全国人民说，我引用他的话，“在情况好转之前，新闻会越来越糟，美国人民理应得到公正的报道……”"
拜登周一多次提到总统的名字，不同于他在全国代表大会上的讲话，他没有一次说“特朗普。”
Biden paints Trump as someone who 'sows chaos rather than providing order'
Former Vice PresidentJoe Bidenattacked PresidentDonald Trump's handling of civil unrest sparked by police violence in a speech Monday afternoon in Pittsburgh, his first in-person campaign trip on the road since theDemocratic National Conventiontwo weeks ago.
Using some of his sharpest language yet, the Democratic nominee claimed that Trump has only escalated violence playing out in the streets of Kenosha,Wisconsin, and Portland, Oregon, both of which have seen violent clashes result in deadly shootings in the past week.
"This president long ago forfeited any moral leadership in this country. He can't stop the violence -- because for years he has fomented it," Biden said. "He may believe mouthing the words 'law and order' makes him strong, but his failure to call on his own supporters to stop acting as an armed militia in this country shows you how weak he is."
Democratic presidential nominee former US Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at Mill 19 in Pittsburgh, Aug. 31, 2020.
But notably, Biden -- whom the Trump White House has accused of not speaking out forcefully enough about violence -- began by saying, "I want to make it absolutely clear. I'll be clear about all of this. Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting. None of this is protesting. It's lawlessness. Plain and simple. And those who do it should be prosecuted."
"Violence will not bring change. It will only bring destruction. It's wrong in every way. It divides instead of unites, destroys businesses, only hurts the working families that serve the community. It makes things worse across the board, not better. No, it is not what Dr. King or John Lewis taught. And it must end," he continued. "Fires are burning -- and we have a president who fans the flames."
"Rioting is not protesting, looting is not protesting...Violence will not bring change, it'll only bring destruction," Joe Biden says.https://t.co/LsgGqliuAU
"We must not burn, we have to build."pic.twitter.com/qutprh6haq
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive)August 31, 2020
Biden's speech was intended to counter Vice President Mike Pence's claim during the Republican National Convention last week that "you won't be safe in Joe Biden's America."
"Does anyone believe there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is reelected? We need justice in America. And we need safety in America," Biden said, speaking before about 15-20 people, mostly reporters, camera crews and Secret Service agents as a small crowd of supporters waited outside.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden, left, accepts the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in Wilmington, Del., Aug. 20, 2020. At right, President Donald Trump speaks accepts the Republican presidential nomination from the South Lawn of the White House, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington.
Biden hit Trump and Pence for slamming "Joe Biden's America" by hammering on the irony that it's their administration currently in charge. He said the violence they're condemning is getting worse as Trump "adds fuel to every fire."
"He's supposed to be protecting this country but instead he's rooting for chaos and violence. The simple truth is Donald Trump failed to protect America. So now he's trying to scare America," Biden said.
"The violence we are seeing in Donald Trump's America. These are not images of some imagined Joe Biden in the future but Donald Trump's America today. He keeps telling you if only he was president, it wouldn't happen, if he was president he keeps telling, if he was president you would feel safe. He is president whether he knows it or not and it is happening," Biden said.
"Fires are burning, and we have a president who fans the flames."
"This president, long ago, forfeited any moral leadership in this country," Joe Biden says. "He can't stop the violence, because for years he's fomented it."https://t.co/U0gLQJ98Gfpic.twitter.com/Wuis27Hhtt
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)August 31, 2020
Biden attempted to tie simultaneous crises -- the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic fallout from the pandemic and police-related violence -- to Trump's tenure.
"The common thread? An incumbent president who makes things worse, not better," Biden said. "An incumbent president who sows chaos rather than providing order."
Pivoting the message back to what he calls Trump's massive mishandling of thecoronaviruscrisis and subsequent crippling economy, Biden said Americans are living in fear directly because of the president's inaction.
"Mr. Trump, you want to talk about fear? If you know what people are afraid of in America? Afraid they're going to get COVID. Afraid they're going to get sick and die and that's, in no small part, because of you," he said.
Biden didn't hold back in making his case that Trump would do anything to hold onto power and that his "toxic presence" for the last four years has been a "poison" to the country.
"We've arrived at a moment in this campaign we all know, including the president in front of me, knew we'd get to: the moment when Donald Trump would be so desperate, he'd do anything to hold on to power," Biden said.
"Donald Trump has been a toxic presence in our nation for four years. Poisoning how we talk to one another. Poisoning how we treat one another. Poisoning the values this nation has always held dear. Poisoning our very democracy," he said.
But Biden also hammered a message of hope for the future, if he is the one elected.
"Trump has sought to remake this nation in his image: Selfish, angry, dark and divisive. This is not who we are. At our best, America's always been -- and if I have anything to do with it -- it will be again, generous, confident, an optimistic nation, full of hope and resolve," he said.
Biden also took on another Trump accusation important to the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
"I am not banning fracking. Let me say that again: I am not banning fracking. No matter how many times Donald Trump lies about it," Biden said.
"You know me. You know my heart. You know my story...Ask yourself: Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really?!"https://t.co/YnBvQefdCbpic.twitter.com/4FjRgOoIhP
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry)August 31, 2020
As Trump prepared to visit Kenosha on Tuesday, Biden, who currently doesn't have plans to travel to Wisconsin, was taking heat from the Trump White House.
In an evening news conference, the president hit back at Biden's speech and claimed it is Democrats' rhetoric inciting the violence.
"The wave of violence and destruction that we have seen in recent weeks and months has occurred in cities exclusively controlled and dominated by the Biden -- Joe Biden party," Trump began his remarks. "The violence is fueled by dangerous rhetoric from far-left politicians that demonize our nation and demonize our police."
Calling Biden's speech "strange," Trump also said Biden failed to acknowledge "left-wing violence" and "antifa" in his remarks -- though both are active threats, according to Trump.
"He mentioned law enforcement, the police, but he didn't mention antifa. I wonder why. And if he cannot name the problem, there is no way he will solve the problem," Trump said. "In fact, Biden would give antifa what they want -- far left policy that they are asking for and if that happens, we don't have much of a country left."
Notably, Biden condemned violence and rioters in his remarks and said he believes he's the candidate to bring both police and protesters fighting for racial justice together to the table.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also praised Trump ahead of his visit in Kenosha for "showing up," unlike Biden, she said.
"This president shows up. He showed up this weekend in Texas. He showed up in Louisiana. He's showing up in Kenosha tomorrow," McEnany said on "Fox and Friends" Monday morning. "This president is out and about, reopening the country, demonstrating his respect for the American people by actually going to places where Americans are hurting."
White House press sec. Kayleigh McEnany says Pres. Trump has no plans to meet with Jacob Blake's family during his visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday.https://t.co/ZVve92aCtdpic.twitter.com/mzpP4MY671
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)August 31, 2020
"Democrats ignoring the state of Wisconsin as they did in 2016," she added.
In 2016, Trump became the first Republican to win the state since Ronald Reagan did so in 1984.
Biden appeared to acknowledge the earlier attacks as he first began to speak.
"In the recent days, we have had a lot of talk about who's going where and how I have decided to come to Pittsburgh to talk a little bit about what's going on right now. In the early days of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt told the country, and I quote, 'the news is going to get worse and worse before it gets better and the American people deserve to have it straight from the shoulder...'"
Biden on Monday mentioned the president multiple times by name, unlike in his convention speech, in which he didn't once say "Trump."
