President Joe Biden speaks at the 2024 National Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Week Conference on September 16, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA— President Joe Biden said Monday there is “no place for political violence” in the United States, one day after an apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
“Let me just say, there is no — and I mean it from the bottom of my heart, those of you who know me, many of you do— no place for political violence in America. None. Zero. Never,” Biden told the annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) conference. He commended the U.S. Secret Service for its “expert handling” of the Sunday incident at Trump’s golf course in Florida.
As he departed the White House en route to Philadelphia on Monday Biden told reporters that the Secret Service “needs more help.” Ryan Wesley Routh appeared in federal court Monday on two firearm charges after being apprehended by local law enforcement Sunday in connection with the incident.
Trump also survived an assassination attempt on July 13 during a rally in Butler.
The Trump campaign sent out a press release on Monday criticizing what it called “rhetoric and lies” from Democrats, claiming there had been “increasingly incendiary rhetoric against President Trump in the days, weeks, and months leading up to the two assassination attempts.”
While Biden condemned the apparent attack on Trump, he still had criticism for the former president, who is the GOP nominee for president. Trump repeated false claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio, which his running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, has also stated publicly, despite local officials saying the claims were false.
“And right now, lies and hate are being spread about Haitian Americans in Ohio,” Biden said. “It’s simply wrong and it must stop.”
Vice President Kamala Harris has also condemned the apparent assassination attempt.
Biden and HBCUs
Biden also made mention of other acts of political violence, including bomb threats to several HBCUs in 2022, and said “affirmative action and the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are under attack,” adding book bans were helping to erase history.
Biden was in Philadelphia to celebrate his administration’s additional $1.3 billion investment into HBCUs, which totals more than $17 billion since he and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in, a record high.
The investments highlighted on Monday will fund need-based grants and other federal programs, including Pell Grants for HBCU students, and “competitive grants” through the Department of Education.
“Folks, together Kamala and I know that an education makes a person free,” Biden said. “HBCU education makes you fearless as well.”
Biden received chants of “thank you, Joe” during the beginning of his remarks, after he said that he “loves Kamala.”
“Thank you all,” Biden responded. “As the saying goes, you all brung me to the dance.”
Harris, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, is an alum of Howard University, an HBCU.
Biden said that he and Harris have prioritized HBCU by investing a record amount into the schools, while also being the first administration to have a working group from the Divine Nine in the White House.
“I may be a white boy, but I ain’t stupid,” Biden said.
“You prove that Black history is American history,” Biden said. “It is American history. And Black excellence is American excellence.”
Of the more than 100 HBCUs nationwide, Pennsylvania is home to two, Cheyney University and Lincoln University. Ahead of Biden’s arrival, members of the Cheyney University drumline performed in the conference hall.
Biden, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in Delaware in 1972, boasted that Delaware State was the best HBCU in America.
Tony Allen, Chair of the President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs and president of Delaware State University, said he has known Biden for 30 years and that the president’s record shows his commitment to HBCUs.
“Everyone in this room understands that HBCUs have always outperformed other institutions by doing more with less,” Allen said. “But President Biden knows less is no longer acceptable.”
“Everyone in this room should know, should understand, that no other administration in the history of the Republic, let me say that again, no other administration in the history of the republic has done more for Historically Black Colleges and Universities than that of President Joe Biden,” he added.
Allen also said that Biden’s life reflected “service to the Black community,” as running mate to the first Black president, and having the support of HBCU alumni U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), during his 2020 campaign. He also noted Biden not only chose Harris as his running mate but endorsed her for president after he exited from the 2024 race.
Biden and Trump argued during a presidential debate in late June over their support for HBCUs.
While Biden was a candidate for president, he launched his campaign’s focus on courting Black voters in a visit to Philadelphia in May. Trump’s campaign has also made an effort at winning over Black voters in Pennsylvania, most recently during a bus tour in Philadelphia hours before his presidential debate with Harris.
Harris, who was most recently in the state on Friday for visits to Johnstown and Wilkes-Barre, is scheduled to be in Philadelphia on Tuesday to participate in a panel discussion hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists.
Trump’s most recent appearance in Pennsylvania was on Sept. 4, for a discussion with Fox News Sean Hannity in Harrisburg . He’s reportedly scheduled to visit Bucks County on Sunday.
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Publish date : 2024-09-16 11:14:00
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