Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention and assured Americans that “united we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America.”
“The current president’s cloaked American darkness for much too long,” Biden said in an opening that targeted President Donald Trump.
“Too much anger, too much fear, too much division. Here and now, I give you my word, if you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I’ll be an ally of the light, not the darkness. It’s time for us — for we the people — to come together,”
He also laid out his plan to combat coronavirus, telling voters that President Donald Trump has “failed in his most basic duty” to protect Americans from the virus.
Biden, in a blunt rebuke of Trump, said he would deploy rapid tests for the virus, make personal protective equipment in the United States “so we will never again be at the mercy of China or other foreign countries,” make sure that schools have the resources they need to reopen and “put politics aside, take the muzzle off our experts.”
Joe Biden added that, there’s no need for guessing about what comes next if Trump is reelected in November pledging to impose a “national mandate to wear a mask.”
“In short, we will do what we should have done from the very beginning,” Biden said. “Our current president has failed in his most basic duty. … That is unforgivable.”
“You know what will happen,” Biden said. “Cases and deaths will remain far too high. More mom and pop businesses will close their doors and this time for good. Working families will struggle to get by and, yet, the wealthiest 1% will get tens of billions of dollars in new tax breaks.”
The “assault on the Affordable Care Act will continue,” Biden added, “until it’s destroyed.”
Joe Biden criticized Donald Trump’s racist comments about white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville “a wake-up call for us as a country, and for me, a call to action.” He recalled a conversation with the 6-year-old daughter of George Floyd the day before Floyd’s funeral.
“She looks in my eyes and she said, I quote, ‘Daddy changed the world. Daddy changed the world.’ Her words burrowed deep into my heart,” he said.
“Maybe George Floyd’s murder was a breaking point. Maybe John Lewis’s passing an inspiration,” Biden said. “America is ready, in John’s words, to lay down the heavy burden of hate at last and begin the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism.”
“In this dark moment, I believe we’re poised to make great progress at the end — that we can find the light once more,” Biden said.
Joe Biden then praised his running mate Kamala Harris during his nomination acceptance speech, describing her as a “powerful voice in this nation.”
“It will be the work of the next president to restore the promise of America to everyone. And I am not going to have to do it alone. I will have a great vice president at my side,” Biden said.
