LAS VEGAS: President Joe Biden returned to the campaign trail on Tuesday for the first time since the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, continuing his calls to calm the divisive rhetoric on both sides but also arguing that doing so 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 mean we should stop telling the truth鈥� about his Republican rival.
Addressing the NAACP convention in Las Vegas, Biden said curbing political violence in the country should mean combating all kinds of bloodshed 鈥� including reducing police brutality and banning weapons like the AR-style rifle used in the weekend attack on the former president.
鈥淥ur politics have become too heated,鈥� Biden said.
That didn鈥檛 stop him from tearing into Trump, though, listing why the former president鈥檚 administration was 鈥渉ell鈥� for Black Americans, including his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, skyrocketing unemployment amid early lockdowns and attempts to, as Biden put it, erase Black history.
鈥淛ust because we must lower the temperature in our politics as it relates to violence doesn鈥檛 mean we should stop telling the truth,鈥� Biden told the crowd that often broke into chants of 鈥淔our more years!鈥�
The president is aiming to showcase his administration鈥檚 support for Black voters who are a tentpole of the Democratic coalition and of his personal political support. As part of his swing in Nevada, he鈥檒l also participate in an interview with BET and address the Hispanic advocacy group UnidosUS, another crucial Democratic-leaning bloc.
For the NAACP crowd, Biden seized on Trump recently referencing 鈥淏lack jobs,鈥� drawing big applause by joking, 鈥淚 love the phrase.鈥�
鈥淚 know what a Black job is. It鈥檚 the vice president of the United States,鈥� Biden said of Vice President Kamala Harris, who he added 鈥渃ould be president.鈥� He also referenced Barack Obama as the nation鈥檚 first Black president, and his own appointment to the Supreme Court of its first Black and female justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Biden鈥檚 trip comes as Democrats have been engaged in a weeks-long crisis of confidence over his candidacy after his devastating debate with Trump last month. The president鈥檚 shaky performance inflamed voter concerns about his age, fitness for office and capacity to defeat Trump once again.
Republicans, for their part, are demonstrating that they are more coalesced than ever around Trump amid their national convention in Milwaukee.
The 81-year-old Biden has rejected a flurry of calls from within his party to step aside, restating his belief that he is the best-positioned Democrat to beat Trump. He has relied heavily on his support among Black and Latino elected officials, and was set to appear with many of them in Nevada.
The president made indirect reference to unrest in his own party on Tuesday, recalling President Harry S. Truman famously saying, 鈥淚f you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.鈥�
鈥淎fter the last couple of weeks, I know what he means,鈥� Biden said. He said later, 鈥渉opefully, with age, comes a little bit of wisdom.鈥�
Biden also promised to use the first 100 days of a second term to oversee congressional approval of a dramatic expansion of voting rights 鈥� something he鈥檚 been unable to so far. He also renewed earlier promises to 鈥渆nd medical debt,鈥� saying he was working with states to settle outstanding bills for care for 鈥減ennies on the dollar.鈥�
鈥淚 know the good Lord hasn鈥檛 brought us this far to leave us now,鈥� Biden told the convention, offering overtly religious tones.
Trump has tried to appeal to both Black and Latino voters, hoping to capitalize on Biden鈥檚 sagging favorability. While it鈥檚 not clear that the loss of enthusiasm for Biden has helped Trump鈥檚 approval with those groups, any marginal loss of support for Biden could prove pivotal in a close race.
The president and his campaign hit pause on their criticisms of Trump in the immediate aftermath of the shooting Saturday at Trump鈥檚 rally in Pennsylvania, where the Republican candidate was injured in the ear, a rallygoer was killed and two others seriously injured.
In an Oval Office address on Sunday night, Biden called on Americans to reject political violence and for political leaders to 鈥渃ool it down.鈥� In a Monday interview with NBC News he allowed that he made a 鈥� mistake 鈥� when he told campaign donors that he wanted to put a 鈥渂ull鈥檚-eye鈥� on Trump, but argued that the rhetoric from his opponent was more incendiary.
鈥淟ook, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?鈥� Biden said. 鈥淒o you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?鈥�
NAACP President Derrick Johnson, in an interview with the AP, sidestepped questions about whether Biden should step aside as the Democratic nominee and whether the president, who often credits his place in the Oval Office to Black voters, could still inspire people to turn out for his candidacy.
Johnson instead focused on the need for Black voters to hear 鈥渟olutions鈥� on issues like inflation, education and attacks on civil rights, which are among the top concerns for Black communities in this election.
鈥淲e want to focus on the policy goals of whoever occupies the White House in the next term,鈥� Johnson said. He added that Black voters would dismiss candidates 鈥渃oncerned with personality and sound bites.鈥�
Later, speaking at an economic summit hosted by Congressional Black Caucus Chair and Rep. Steven Horsford at the College of Southern Nevada鈥檚 campus in North Las Vegas, Biden announced that the regional housing authority and municipal officials would receive a $50 million federal grant to build 400 affordable housing units 鈥� playing up his attempts to lower rents in a state where housing costs are a critical political issue.
The president also talked about his administration鈥檚 efforts to ease the effects of extreme heat on the workforce, while continuing to lay into his opponent in November鈥檚 election.
鈥淭rump says he doesn鈥檛 believe climate change is real. Maybe he should step out here in Vegas, where it鈥檚 120 degrees, in his bare feet,鈥� Biden said as the crowd hooted.
Biden is also proposing to cap rent increases at 5 percent for tenants whose landlords own over 50 units. If landlords hiked rents by more than that, they would lose access to some tax write-offs. But doing that would require congressional approval that Biden is unlikely to receive with a House Republican majority.
Trump has also used Nevada to float new economic policies. He said he would end taxes on the tips received by workers in the service-industry focused state, a concept that has since been endorsed by Nevada鈥檚 Democratic senators, Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto.