It went under the radar, but Joe Biden is trying to do his part to help address the unrest and outrage after the killing of George Floyd. Monday morning he met with community leaders at a predominantly African American church in his hometown. NPR reports that “Fourteen faith leaders and local lawmakers attended the event at Bethel AME church in Wilmington, Delaware”:
“Biden spent more than half of the event listening to the concerns of community leaders rather than delivering remarks. He could be seen taking notes as each attendee got up and spoke.”
.@JoeBiden in listening mode as he meets with community leaders at Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Delaware pic.twitter.com/ZTUZaXtUcF
— Arlette Saenz (@ArletteSaenz) June 1, 2020
NPR adds “After about an hour, Biden rose to address the church gathering. ‘I want to make something clear: I don’t expect anything from the black community,’ he said. ‘It has to be earned, earned every single time.’”
The Delaware News Journal writes:
“The Delawareans stressed to Biden that the next president needs to deliver on promises made to the black community.
Biden said his administration would have an economic recovery plan that “deals with the institutional structures and institutional racism.” He hinted about releasing a new economic plan in the coming weeks.”
“When he finished speaking, Biden asked the group if they would join him in prayer.”
Later in the day, Biden held a virtual roundtable with the mayors of St. Paul, Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Epstein remarked, “Usually it would be the president convening such key mayors.”
This is what leadership looks like. https://t.co/tM9YLu3czP
— Symone D. Sanders Townsend (@SymoneDSanders) June 1, 2020
Politico writes, “Biden asserted Monday that Americans are ‘ready in ways they didn’t realize before’ for systemic change to address racial inequities in America, suggesting that the coronavirus pandemic and the death of a black man in police custody in Minnesota has exposed those schisms to a new wave of people.”
“I think that the blinders have sort of been taken off the American people in this pandemic, and now what they’re seeing as the consequence of the flat killing of George Floyd,” Biden said during a virtual roundtable with the mayors of St. Paul, Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles — four cities wracked by protests over the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who had been detained by Minneapolis police.
Strangely, these Biden events reportedly didn’t get much (if any) play on the major cable networks.
This is a really good question for @msnbc and @cnn; this isn't a function of the Biden campaign. This is a narrative created by the media but also the result of media decisions of what not to carry. https://t.co/Is9HOFDUiH
— Neera Tanden🌻 (@neeratanden) June 1, 2020