After the assassination attempt of two police officers in Compton, California, many on the Left either remained quiet or offered only the weakest of condemnations.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has been quick to blame Republicans and police officers for recent events, remained silent until Thursday, when she offered up a boilerplate statement. “We support peaceful demonstrations, we participate in them, they are part of the essence of our democracy,” she said. “That does not include looting, starting fires, or rioting. They should be prosecuted. That is lawlessness.”
Presidential candidate Joe Biden condemned the attack as “unconscionable,” yet immediately turned his attention to gun laws and the environment.
As the violence continues throughout the nation, and police officers and innocent Americans continue to be attacked, the Democratic presidential candidate has yet to come forward with any specific plans to stop the violence.
In reality, Biden has no plan, and it is likely that he has no interest in formulating one.
Nevertheless, after the recent events in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield accused President Trump of “inciting violence.” Indeed, Biden recently said, “The simple truth is Donald Trump failed to protect America. So now he’s trying to scare America.”
We are facing multiple crises—crises that, under Donald Trump, keep multiplying. COVID, economic devastation, unwarranted police violence, emboldened white nationalists, a reckoning on race, declining faith in a bright American future. The common thread? An incumbent president who makes things worse, not better. An incumbent president who sows chaos rather than providing order.
In other words, rather than showing leadership, courage, and an ability to solve problems in difficult times, Biden’s “solution” to the nation’s most difficult problems is to blame Trump. The crises are, in the view of Biden’s campaign, the result of a president who allegedly sows chaos rather than providing order. What? Like magic? To Biden, it’s really that simple.
In typical Biden fashion, however, his comments amount to empty and unoriginal rhetoric.
What’s even worse than Biden’s instinct to blame the president, however, is his failure to provide a comprehensive plan for dealing with and stopping the violence. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to. This should concern all Americans.
Biden’s failure to present a plan for dealing with the looting, violence, and anarchy can mean one of just a few things.
It could be that Biden assumes that the looting and violence will entirely cease if he wins the election. But this is highly unlikely. Why would it stop if they think it is working?
It could also be that Biden doesn’t want to stop the looting and the violence because he feels like it provides him with an advantage as the November elections approach. If that is the case, Biden in essence is telling the American people that the violence against innocent Americans and police officers is tolerable so long as it potentially benefits him.
Finally, it could be that Biden knows he can’t stop the violence. That seems likely. But in that case, is he really worthy of being president? If he is either too weak to deal with the violence or too afraid of disappointing his far-left base, what kind of president is he going to be for the rest of America?
Biden’s response to the latest officer-involved shooting in Compton gives us some clues about what’s really going on with his campaign Biden called the shooting “unconscionable” less than 24 hours after it happened and called for anyone who commits acts of violence to be punished. He then immediately proceeded to push for gun-control, tweeting “Weapons of war have no place in our communities. We need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”
Notice, though, he didn’t offer to visit the officers—indeed he didn’t offer to help the officers in any way. His focus was not on calling for an end to the riots and looting, but to deflect attention away from them.
The Democratic nominee for president offered nothing but a seemingly insincere apology that was immediately followed by an untimely, insensitive, and illogical attack on certain types of firearms. It is unclear how his message had anything to do with what happened to the two officers, who were simply sitting in their vehicle.
President Trump, on the other hand, has called for very strong measures against those who kill police officers, including the death penalty, and has consistently taken tough positions against the looting, violence, and anarchy in American cities while encouraging governors to act, even offering them the use of the National Guard.
Biden’s refusal to stand up to the looters, agitators, and anarchists is in keeping with his refusal to stand up to the leaders in his own party. While cities burn and officers and innocent Americans are attacked, Biden refuses to step up and specifically to offer any concrete solution to the violence. As President Trump has noted, “He’s not strong for law and order and everybody knows that.”