On Sunday, July 14, Joe Biden addressed the nation with a blatantly political speech saying that the political rhetoric needed to cool down and that there was no place in America for political violence. He listed several violent incidents that Democrats are using in their campaigns—members of Congress being targeted, January 6 violent mob, the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, information intimidation on election officials, the kidnapping plot against a sitting governor, and finally “an attempted assassination on Donald Trump.” Then he struck another chord in his campaign that he believes this election will shape the future of America for decades to come. All this reinforced his previous hate-filled rhetoric.
There was no mention of violence against Republicans, save for the assassination attempt on Trump. There was no mention of his very own statements that dog-whistled violence against Trump. For example, on June 28, Biden posted on X: “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation. He’s a threat to our freedom. He’s a threat to our democracy. He’s literally a threat to everything America stands for.” On Monday, July 8, Biden told Democrat donors, “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.” At a campaign rally in Detroit on July 12, Biden was railing on Trump as a “convicted criminal” at his rally in Detroit. He said, “No more! Donald, no more free passes. Today, we are going to shine a spotlight on Donald Trump…We are going to say who he is, what he intends to do. Folks, Donald Trump is a convicted criminal.”
Just before Trump was shot, Biden posted on Facebook, “Americans want a President not a dictator.” All these comments have been echoed throughout the past ten years from the Democratic Party faithful and officeholders as well as the state-favored media outlets. Ongoing references to criminality, threat to democracy, Hitler, and so on. Repeatedly. Biden and the Democratic Party has used Democrats in the court system to eliminate Trump’s candidacy, to try to bankrupt him and to defile his name. The news media has amplified these actions and even in the day after the assassination attempt on Trump, the media downplayed it and outright blamed Trump for the shooting. That Biden said July 14 he ordered the Secret Service to provide Trump with every resource to protect his life is an indicator that the best protection was previously withheld
Now Biden is saying that there’s no place for violence or harsh rhetoric in American politics. Biden’s address to the nation was no less a continuation of his campaign disguised as a call for peace and unity. It was disingenuous. The only campaign issue Biden has is his characterization of Trump because Biden’s record on every aspect of his presidency is dismal. Take that away and Biden has no campaign. While the rhetoric might be “cooled down” for a bit, Biden has not taken responsibility for his part in the hate-filled environment and his speech only struck his own campaign chords. His new standard is his old standard rephrased. As Christ said in Matthew 24:4, “Take heed that no man deceive you.”
Sources:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/07/14/remarks-by-president-biden-2/
