Joe Biden released the following last night:
These last few days have laid bare that we are a nation furious at injustice. Every person of conscience can understand the rawness of the trauma people of color experience in this country, from the daily indignities to the extreme violence, like the horrific killing of George Floyd.Sounds like a real President to us.
Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not.
The act of protesting should never be allowed to overshadow the reason we protest. It should not drive people away from the just cause that protest is meant to advance.
I know that there are people all across this country who are suffering tonight. Suffering the loss of a loved one to intolerable circumstances, like the Floyd family, or to the virus that is still gripping our nation. Suffering economic hardships, whether due to COVID-19 or entrenched inequalities in our system. And I know that a grief that dark and deep may at times feel too heavy to bear.
I know.
And I also know that the only way to bear it is to turn all that anguish to purpose. So tonight, I ask all of America to join me — not in denying our pain or covering it over — but using it to compel our nation across this turbulent threshold into the next phase of progress, inclusion, and opportunity for our great democracy.
We are a nation in pain, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us. We are a nation enraged, but we cannot allow our rage to consume us. We are a nation exhausted, but we will not allow our exhaustion to defeat us.
As President, I will help lead this conversation — and more importantly, I will listen. I will keep the commitment I made to George’s brother, Philonise, that George will not just be a hashtag. We must and will get to a place where everyone, regardless of race, believes that “to protect and serve” means to protect and serve them. Only by standing together will we rise stronger than before. More equal, more just, more hopeful — and that much closer to our more perfect union.
Please stay safe. Please take care of each other.
We hope his words are heeded.
BONUS:
George Floyd's brother tells @TheRevAl on @MSNBC that he spoke to both @JoeBiden & @realDonaldTrump .— Scotty D (@thedoggeneral1) May 30, 2020
George's brother said, Joe listened & was very sorry & compassionate.
He said, Trump cut him off, talked over him & didn't want to hear what he had to say.
BONUS II: First things first: let's remove those cops who seem to be rioting in Omaha, San Francisco, Portland, Columbus, Dallas, New York and Denver as well as, of course, Minneapolis. We wonder who they feel enabled by...
BONUS III: This is the police union leader in Minneapolis. They need to take out the trash.
