Promising to be “an ally of the light not the darkness,” Biden vowed that the first thing he would do, once in office, is to “get control of the virus that ruined so many lives.”
“The president keeps telling us the virus is going to disappear,” he said. “He keeps waiting for a miracle. I have news for him. No miracle is coming.”
The Democratic nominee said he would deploy a national strategy he has been laying out since March, to develop and deploy rapid tests, and make medical and protective supplies in the U.S. so that we “will never again be at the mercy of China or foreign countries to protect our own people.”
Biden continually returned to the theme of light, telling viewers that “United, we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America.”
“We can choose a path of becoming angrier,” he said, “or we can choose a different path and take this chance to heal, to reform, to unite.”
Biden emphasized his goals to help the working and middle classes, espousing improvements to the healthcare, education and labor systems, and promising to uphold the Affordable Care Act.
“It’s well past time the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations in this country pay their fair share,” said Biden. “And for our seniors, Social Security is a sacred obligation, a sacred promise made.”
“He totally looked and sounded like a president,” noted historian Michael Beschloss told “PBS News Hour.”
Biden also hearkened to President Obama’s legacy, thanking the former president and contrasting Obama’s presidency with Trump’s current administration. Trump has “cloaked America In darkness for much too long,” he said.
“The days of cozying up to dictators is over,” said Biden. “Under President Biden, American will not turn a blind eye to Russian bounties on the heads of American soldiers.”
He also appealed to younger generations of voters, telling them, “I hear their voices” and their concerns about climate change, economic injustice and racial injustice. “It’s about winning the heart, and yes, the soul of America. Winning it for the generous among us, not the selfish,” Biden said. “Winning it for the workers who keep this country going, not just the privileged few at the top. Winning it for those communities who have known the injustice of the ‘knee on the neck.’ For all the young people who have known only an America of rising inequity and shrinking opportunity.”
Biden recounted meeting with the daughter of George Floyd the day before Floyd’s funeral, and talked about the “hard work of rooting out systemic racism.”
Calling the protests in Charlottesville a “call to action,” Biden said he “knew he had to run then” for office.
