Biden claims Trump would not seek pardons for J6ers if they were black

During his Philadelphia campaign stop on Wednesday, President Joe Biden claimed that if black Americans had been in attendance at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 former President Donald Trump would not have said he would pardon them. Trump has said repeatedly that he would pardon those non-violent offenders who were charged with things like misdemeanor trespassing.

“What do you think he would have done if black Americans had stormed the Capitol?" Biden shouted at his audience. "I don’t think he’d be talking about pardons." Biden has attempted to use race as a dividing factor throughout his campaign.

“This is the same guy who wanted to tear gas you as you peacefully protested George Floyd's murder,” Biden added. During the summer of 2020, riots were rampant across the US in the wake of the death of George Floyd in police custody on May 25, 2020.

Riots went on for more than 100 consecutive nights in Portland, Ore., where rioters attempted over and over to set the federal courthouse on fire. In Washington, DC, St. John's church, right near the White House, was set on fire, Antifa in Seattle took over 6 square blocks of the downtown area and allowed two black teens to be shot, one of whom dies, and in Kenosha, Wisc., CNN reporter Oscar Jimenez stood in front of burning buildings while the chryon proclaimed the riots there "fiery, but mostly peaceful." 

In an op ed in The New York Times, Senator Tom Cotton called for the National Guard to be deployed. In response, the editor of the opinion section was forced out along with some staff. Trump suggested that the National Guard might need to be deployed to some cities to quell the riots that local governments seemed unwilling to control, but he did not follow through on that.

Biden's comments come as he begins a new campaign aimed to appeal to black voters, particularly to invest in black student organizations, and community groups across the country. At a recent commencement address at historically black Morehouse College in Georgia, Biden told graduating students "It's natural to wonder if the Democracy you hear about actually works for you." Some students turned their backs on him and his negative words.

"What is democracy if black men are being killed in the street?" Biden asked seniors. "What is democracy if the trail of broken promises still leave black communities behind? What is democracy if you have to be ten times better than anyone else to get a fair shot? Most of all, what does it mean, as you've heard before, to be a black man who loves his country even if it doesn't love him back in equal measure."

A spokesperson for Biden said on Wednesday that the Biden-Harris campaign is launching “Black Voters for Biden Harris,” which is a “national organizing program to bolster our continued historic investments in outreach to the backbone of the Biden-Harris coalition – black voters.” 

“These voters were instrumental in electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020, paving the way for the Biden-Harris Administration to deliver a record low black unemployment rate, black wealth increased by 60%, more black Americans with health care coverage than ever before, and billions forgiven in student loan debt that disproportionately impacts black borrowers. Now, these same voters will be critical to defeating Trump’s racist and toxic agenda at the ballot box – again,” the spokesperson added.

The rally in Philadelphia was held at Girard College and featured many prominent black leaders from across the country. Biden also scheduled to attend an event with the Black Chamber of Commerce at a black-owned small business. The event was created for Biden to explain his administration’s “commitment to increasing black wealth,” according to NBC Philadelphia.