‘We have a lot of work to do.’ Biden vows to defeat hate, intolerance in Arlington visit
Former Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Arlington Wednesday night to share a message: It’s not too late to rid the country of intolerance.
“Some mornings that I wake up, I wonder whether or not we are living in 2020 or 1920,” he told a crowd of African-American delegates gathered at the National Baptist Convention Mid-Winter Board Meeting in Arlington. “I hear the voices of intolerance singing the chorus of hate, intolerance.”
“I hear the echoes of the not so distant past,” he said. “When you hear that call, you can’t sit around. You can’t wish and pray for things to get better.”
Biden’s comments came one day after the seventh Democratic presidential debate. His visit to Texas — a key battleground in this year’s presidential election — drew quick criticism from some Republicans.
“Joe Biden continues to campaign on outrageous tax proposals, crushing economic plans, and now his failed record on foreign policy,” Trump Victory spokeswoman Samantha Cotten said in a statement before the speech. “Meanwhile, President Trump continues to put America first as a leader on the world stage while delivering a stronger economy and fairer trade deals back home.”
Biden is the latest presidential hopeful to head to Tarrant County, where Democrats say they see opportunity this year since the once dependable red barrier didn’t hold here in 2018. Democrat Beto O’Rourke beat Republican Ted Cruz here in that election, although Cruz won re-election to the U.S. Senate across the state.
Biden is the only presidential candidate who spoke to the Baptist convention’s mid-winter meeting this week.
He was greeted with a standing ovation and spoke for about half an hour about the country’s civil rights struggles and progress made until, he said, Donald Trump was elected president.
Since then, he said there have been efforts to roll back rights, suppress votes, cut funding, deny those seeking asylum and prevent some from gaining health care or insurance.
Biden said he believed the country was on the verge of so much when Barack Obama was president.
“Now it seems as though so much is under attack,” he said. “And if I’ve learned anything during the time that Donald Trump has been president, it’s this: hate never goes away. It only hides. Give it oxygen — as Trump has done — and it comes roaring back.”
But he said the Baptist leaders in the crowd are among those who can make a change this year.
“Sometimes progress runs fastest when we are at our lowest,” Biden said. “Sometimes, those who fan the flames of hate end up drawing forth the next great wave of progress. I believe we’re in one of those moments now with Donald Trump.”
The former vice president had many supporters in the crowd — and they said it wasn’t just because he served as vice president to Obama.
“I support Joe Biden because I believe he will be able to heal some of the division in our nation and bring a more positive political environment,” said Maurice White, a delegate and pastor in Ruston, La.
“I believe he’s the best candidate to move to the center ... to get our nation back on track.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 8:39 PM.
