Biden criticizes Trump for "inciting" violence in the country 1:18
(CNN) -
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Monday condemned the violence, looting and destruction of property during protests over racial injustice and police brutality, while saying that President Donald Trump's refusal to petition to its own supporters that "stop acting like an armed militia in this country shows how weak it is."
“I want to be very clear about all this: to riot is not to protest.
Looting is not protesting.
Starting fires is not protesting.
None of this is protesting.
It is illegality, plain and simple.
And those who do should be prosecuted, "Biden said in a speech in Pittsburgh.
«Violence will not bring changes, it will only bring destruction.
It is wrong in every way.
It will divide, rather than unite.
(…) It makes things worse in all areas, it does not improve them, ”he said.
Biden said the looting and property damage is a departure from the tactics of civil rights advocates Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis, and "must stop."
We must not burn.
We have to build, ”Biden said.
The candidate that "the violence we're seeing in Donald Trump's America" is proof that the message from last week's Republican National Convention - that Trump would seek "law and order," and that looting and the property damage that has occurred in some cities would extend to the suburbs, where Trump needs to win back white voters, if Biden is elected - it has no basis in reality.
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Trump's attacks on Biden give him crucial opportunity to show what he will be like as president
Biden harshly condemned Trump's actions amid protests over police brutality and racial injustice, saying the president's job is to "tell the truth, be honest, face the facts, lead, not incite."
Trump is "unable to tell us the truth, unable to face the facts, and unable to heal.
It does not want to shed light, it wants to generate heat and it is fueling violence in our cities, "he said.
Biden also scoffed at Trump's characterization of him.
New protests in Kenosha over the Jacob Blake case 3:49
Ask yourself: do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters?
Really? ”Said Biden.
He said he wants a "safe America," a country protected from the coronavirus pandemic, police brutality, rioters and more.
And he wants a country "safe for four more years" from Trump, he added.
"Do you really feel safer with Donald Trump?" Biden asked repeatedly throughout his speech.
The Democrat added that Trump "is supposed to be protecting this country.
But instead he is encouraging chaos and violence "and is" trying to scare America. "
Biden presented himself as a bridge between peaceful protesters who oppose police violence that disproportionately affects black people and local elected officials and law enforcement agencies.
"I'm sure I can bring the police to the dialogue table as well," Biden said.
The speech comes at a tense moment, ahead of Trump's trip Tuesday - against the wishes of Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers - to Kenosha, a city ravaged by violence following the police shooting of a black man from 29-year-old Jacob Blake, the property damage and looting that followed, and the deaths of two protesters.
Trump and the Republican Party closed a convention focused on the theme of "law and order" last week, painting a deeply distorted picture of cities taken over by street violence that would soon spread to the suburbs, where it needs to rebuild its position in the face of the white voters to defeat Biden, if he does not win re-election.
Trump: No one is going to be safe in Biden's USA 10:33
The political landscape behind the conventions for both parties is murky, although this week's polls could shed light on whether Biden or Trump got a boost from the conventions and whether their content changed the way Americans view issues like police brutality. protests and civic violence.
Trump appears to be inciting riots on Twitter, where he praised a convoy of supporters heading to troubled Portland, Oregon, as "Great Patriots."
He also "liked" a Twitter post that encouraged people to read a thread of tweets that in part praised Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old accused of allegedly killing two protesters in Kenosha.
LEE: Trump still plans to visit Kenosha even though the Wisconsin governor asked him to reconsider the trip
Biden's return to the campaign also comes after months in which he has rarely traveled outside of the Delaware and Philadelphia areas, as the pandemic led his campaign's health advisers to conclude that doing so was not feasible.
Biden said he plans to resume travel to the changing states soon, telling supporters at a recent virtual fundraiser that Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Minnesota are states where visits are in the works.
His wife, Jill Biden, plans to launch what the campaign calls a "back-to-school" combination of virtual and in-person events on Tuesday in eight states - Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida, Nevada, Minnesota, Arizona and Pennsylvania. which are electoral battlegrounds in 2020, although it is not yet clear how many of those states he will visit in person.
CNN's Stephen Collinson contributed to this report.
Donald Trump 2020 United States Elections Joe Biden