2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has shared his reaction to President Donald Trump retweeting a video where someone is heard shouting “white power.”
Amid heightened backlash over the video, Biden also criticized the president’s actions in a tweet of his own suggesting how the latest tweet echoed the same sentiments he expressed following the white supremacists rally and counter-protests that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
“Today the President shared a video of people shouting ‘white power’ and said they were ‘great.’ Just like he did after Charlottesville,” the former vice president tweeted on Sunday in reference to Trump’s previous remarks amid racial tension.
Biden acknowledged the critical challenges America is facing as he noted that the president appears to have “picked a side.” However, the former vice president also vowed that the country would be victorious.
“We’re in a battle for the soul of the nation — and the President has picked a side,” Biden tweeted. “But make no mistake: it’s a battle we will win.”
Today the President shared a video of people shouting “white power” and said they were “great.” Just like he did after Charlottesville.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 28, 2020
We’re in a battle for the soul of the nation — and the President has picked a side. But make no mistake: it’s a battle we will win.
Biden’s reaction came shortly after Trump shared the video. With the retweeted video, Trump wrote, “Thank you to the great people of The Villages. The Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats will Fall in the Fall. Corrupt Joe is shot. See you soon!!!”
The video included a collection of clips highlighting the support Trump has received from the people of The Villages, a Florida seniors community. At the end of the video, a demonstrator driving a golf cart with a Trump 2020 banner could be heard proclaiming “white power.”
See the video below:
Trump tweeted this video this morning. His staff deleted it hours later. His spokesperson said Trump didn’t hear the white power comment which was said TWICE only 9 seconds into the video. He sure misses a lot of important info. Maybe he’s not right for the job. pic.twitter.com/d98BU36zs5
— david nussbaum (@theNuzzy) June 28, 2020
The president’s tweet was deleted hours later. Amid criticism over the video, White House spokesperson Judd Deere released a statement where he insisted the president did not hear the statement in the video, which is now deleted from the president’s Twitter feed, as previously reported on IJR.
According to Deere, Trump “is a big fan of The Villages. He did not hear the one statement made on the video. What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters.”
