In a speech to Black voters, Biden connects the Trump shooting to racial and gun violence

In a speech to Black voters, Biden connects the Trump shooting to racial and gun violence. President Joe Biden addressed Black supporters in Nevada on Tuesday, his first campaign appearance since the assassination attempt on his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump. He linked the attack on Trump to racial and gun violence, imploring Americans to “condemn violence in any form.”

Biden spoke at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) convention, an American civil rights organization, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Tuesday. He highlighted the violence perpetrated on African Americans, including George Floyd, who was killed by a white police officer in 2020.

For the first time since the shooting at Trump’s Pennsylvania campaign event on Saturday, which killed a rallygoer and wounded others, including the former president, Biden called for stricter gun control and to reenact the U.S. ban on assault weapons, which expired in 2004.

“We all have a responsibility to lower the temperature and condemn violence in any form,” he said to Black voters in Las Vegas, Nevada, Tuesday.

The president lags in the polls behind Trump nationally, and in various swing states, including Nevada. He continues to reject calls from at least 20 congressional Democrats and others within his party to step aside, insisting that he is the best-positioned Democrat to beat Trump.

Via his social media platform, Trump also urged the nation to “stand united.” He said in an interview with the Washington Examiner newspaper that he has rewritten his convention speech to focus more on unity.

Biden delivered his remarks on the fourth day of the national convention for the NAACP. The appearance came only three days after a 20-year-old gunman positioned himself on a roof in Butler, Pennsylvania, and fired an AR-15-style rifle at Trump as he spoke at a rally.

The shooting heightened tensions ahead of a tightly fought U.S. presidential race, set to culminate with election day on November 5. Biden, a Democrat, seeks to retain the presidency in a rematch of his 2020 race against Trump. But in the aftermath of the shooting, Biden temporarily suspended television advertisements attacking the Republican leader, as both candidates made calls for unity.

The Democratic incumbent reprised that theme in his speech to the NAACP convention, albeit with some biting remarks for his Republican rival. “We have to say with one voice that violence is not the answer. That’s what we should rally around as a nation. That’s the unity I’m talking about,” Biden said.

After repeating his offer of prayers to the Trump family, Biden quickly pivoted to the question of violence against the Black community — an issue he implied Trump was weak in. He also blasted Trump for his response to the murder of George Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota who died after a law enforcement official kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes.

Black voters represent a key constituency for the Democratic president. In 2020, Black residents in South Carolina were credited with reviving Biden’s campaign in the Democratic primaries, ultimately giving him the boost he needed to claim the party nomination. And in the general election that year, Black voters turned out overwhelmingly for Biden, with 92 percent casting their ballot for him.

In his speech, Biden also highlighted his administration’s efforts to address racial disparities in the U.S., including the recent passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. He also touted his efforts to improve the economy and create jobs, issues that are critical to Black voters.

Despite Biden’s efforts to appeal to Black voters, some critics have accused him of not doing enough to address the systemic racism that persists in the U.S. They point to issues like police brutality, mass incarceration, and economic inequality as evidence that the Democratic president has not fulfilled his campaign promises.

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