Biden condemns racism following Minnesota protests

Bloomberg

Joe Biden denounced the unjust treatment of African Americans and called on Americans to take an active role in combating racism, as he assailed President Donald Trump’s leadership after a black man was killed in police custody in Minnesota.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, delivered brief remarks in a speech streamed live on his website, as he sought to draw a clear contrast with a series of inflammatory tweets from Trump suggesting that protesters in Minneapolis would be shot.
“We need to stand up as a nation with the black community, with all minority communities, and come together as one America,” Biden said. “The very soul of America is at stake. We must commit as a nation to pursue justice with every ounce of our being.”
George Floyd, a black man, was killed in Minneapolis after a white police officer kneeled on his neck. After days of sometimes violent protests, police officer Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with murder.
Trump inserted himself into the protests with a series of early morning tweets in which he criticised the mayor’s handling of the protests and threatened to send in the National Guard, which is a state function, not federal.
He then used a phrase coined by a Miami police chief in the 1960s about shooting looters.
“These THUGS are dishonouring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
Trump tried to walk back the remark after widespread criticism, saying he was not seeking to stoke violence but rather stating that looting can lead to violence, which he wanted to avoid.
Biden didn’t mention Trump directly in his remarks, except to chide that “this is no time for incendiary tweets.”