Former Vice President Joe Biden promised on Monday to combat “institutional racism” during a meeting with black church leaders in Delaware.
“Hate just hides. It doesn’t go away, and when you have somebody in power who breathes oxygen into the hate under the rocks, it comes out from under the rocks,” Biden said as he vowed, if elected, to set up a government entity to provide oversight to police departments.
The speech, which was Biden’s third appearance since the coronavirus pandemic forced him to campaign from his basement, is the second time Biden has spoken on the protests and the riots that erupted after the Minneapolis death of George Floyd in police custody over Memorial Day weekend.
In a Friday speech on the incident, Biden called on white people to shoulder the blame for systemic racism in the United States.
Biden has steered his campaign consistently toward capturing the black vote. He launched his bid in 2019 with a video decrying the violent display of racism during an alt-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and relied on the majority black vote in the South Carolina primary to become the presumptive nominee.
But the former vice president has also faced criticism for his record on race. In late May, he told podcast host Charlamagne Tha God, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
Biden walked back those comments after receiving criticism from many of his supporters, including South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, who said that he “cringed” at the comment but would still support Biden, especially in comparison to the “alternative.”
Biden insisted on Monday that he has never taken the support of the black community for granted.
“I want to make something clear. I don’t expect anything from the black community,” he said.
Both Biden and President Trump over the weekend called Floyd’s family to express their regrets. Neither Trump nor Biden addressed the growing number of riots and protests at that time.
