President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign responded sharply to the speech Tuesday by former Vice President Joe Biden in which he slammed the administration’s response to ongoing riots and attacked Trump for a Bible “photo-op.”
In his address at Philadelphia’s city hall, Biden accused police of “escalat[ing] tension.” He also claimed that Trump had ordered police to use tear gas to clear protesters from Lafayette Park so he could walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which had been partially burned by rioters the night before, and hold up a Bible:
When peaceful protestors dispersed in order for a president, a president from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House, using tear gas and flash grenades in order to stage a photo-op at one of the most historic churches in the country or at least in Washington, DC, we can be forgiven for believing the president is more interested in power than in principle.
…
The president held up the Bible at St. John’s Church yesterday. I just wish he opened it once in a while instead of brandishing it.
In response, Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pearson accused Biden of siding with the rioters and making up incorrect facts about what happened in Lafayette Park. She also noted Biden’s history of insensitive racial remarks:
Joe Biden’s campaign made it clear that they stand with the rioters, the people burning businesses in minority communities and causing mayhem, by donating to post bail for those arrested. He has obviously made the crass political calculation that unrest in America is a benefit to his candidacy. Biden has a history of cozying up to notorious racists in the Senate, he attempted to inflame race relations by claiming Republicans want to put Black Americans ‘back in chains,’ and told a Black radio host that Blacks who didn’t support him ‘ain’t Black.’ He topped that off today by repeating the erroneous claim that protestors in Lafayette Park were tear gassed last night to clear a path for President Trump, when the Park Police says they used no tear gas and were not aware that the President was coming through. Over the course of his public life, Joe Biden has used the politics of racial division when they suited his needs and he is doing it again. In contrast, President Trump has addressed the nation twice, expressed horror and sorrow for the death of George Floyd, stood with the peaceful protestors, and made it clear that he would not abide our cities being overtaken by violent, uncontrollable rioters. President Trump is restoring the nation to order and is clearly the leader we need to return the country to peace and prosperity.
Biden did not condemn the burning of St. John’s specifically, but did condemn burning churches generally.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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