Has Joe Biden Failed to Condemn Violent Protests and Looting?

No.

By
79

In discussing protests that turned violent in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, Sen. Josh Hawley claimed that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has not spoken against violence and looting that has occurred at protests the past few months. 

“Are we going to see Joe Biden in the next couple of days, after three months of encouraging this violence, tell us that he’s against it?” Carlson asked Hawley.

“No, of course not,” Hawley responded. “And the reason is Tucker, the Marxist left—and let’s just call them what it is—the Marxist left is essentially in control now of the Democratic Party. … And Joe Biden is absolutely enthralled to them. So this is why he can’t come out and condemn what we’re seeing right in front of our own eyes, which is the assault on law-abiding Americans.”

Hawley later repeated his claims in a tweet:

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  1. Avatar photo
    Vlad M.

    I hope you do realise that the Democrats have been fanning the flames of rioters for a couple of months now and this is ridiculously weak tea from Biden. For God's sake, this is the party of "burning down cities is irrelevant because American waycism,".

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    1. Tim Johnson

      How have Democrats been fanning the flames?

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    Johntadian

    The Dispatch has gotten this curious habit of having one-word denials for democrat fact checking (no), but then, having hem-and-hawing responses to GOP checks. Biden finally coming out 70-some days after Portland and a week after the democrat convention, where nothing was mentioned, deserves a little more than a no. Your hatred for the Trump administration is getting more frantic as we near the election. I think I hear credibility calling...

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    1. Tim Johnson

      Here's a Biden quote from May against violence, so it's hardly just recent.

      "Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not."

      https://deadline.com/2020/05/george-floyd-protests-joe-biden-statement-violence-curfews-donald-trump-silent-1202947533/

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    2. Peter

      Oh cmon dude stop with the lazyness and obvious bias. Biden and many democrats denounced it from the start.

      You folks are just telling yourself a narrative.

      Why didn’t Trump show any empathy sooner to the black victims? Apparently Biden called Blake’s family but not Trump.

      You folks are getting upset because Trump (the actual president not Biden) is getting the heat.

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        Johntadian

        Four days of convention and not one word, as it was going on in real time. Please.

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  3. Joe1776

    The tweet you link to doesn't say what you say it says. The tweet you link he is condemning violence from the police:

    "Once again, a Black man — Jacob Blake — was shot by the police. In front of his children. It makes me sick.

    Is this the country we want to be?

    Needless violence won’t heal us. We need to end the violence — and peacefully come together to demand justice."

    Maybe there was a different tweet you had in mind or maybe it is farther down?

    I don't really care if he condemns the violence. I wish he would condemn the governors that refuse to accept federal help that will simply and effectively end the violence. Biden is really acting horribly. His empathy for the victims of these riots is totally lacking. Gutless.

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    1. Tim Johnson

      The quote is from the video in the Tweet.

      Let me guess: Alec is now part of the fake-news pedophilia ring that is trying to topple Trump?

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    2. tla

      Are you sure sending in the National Guard would simply and effectively end the violence versus escalate the situation? If Trump were Eisenhower, I'd trust him to set the tone and send the National Guard in a peaceful and ordered manner. Eisenhower he is not.

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        Victor Clairmont

        David actually had a good breakdown a few weeks back on one of the podcasts, saying that the National Guard is more prepared to deal with rioter's since many of them are people that have been trained for this or have been in actually war zones. They don't rattle as easy as police officers do and are not quick to pull a trigger. It's one thing if a mob is hurling frozen bottles at you, another if insurgents are shooting rpg's.

        So if you have to send in extra force, the National Guard is fine.

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        1. tla

          I agree but my distinction is that while I do think National Guard can keep the peace with the right directive from the top, but asking the National Guard to arrest folks is not that. I trust the National Guard, I don't trust the guy giving the mission.

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            Victor Clairmont

            That's fine.

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      2. Joe1776

        Yes it will. Bring in trucks and arrest anyone breaking the curfew. Problem solved quickly and easily. No more destruction or looting, or people getting shot or beat up etc.

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          JohnF

          Joe, you are picturing a scenario in which authorities roll in and everyone gives themselves up without question. If the people involved are that compliant, then there is no need for military-style intervention.

          Unfortunately, by the time the Riot police arrive, the situation has moved long past that. At that point, the authorities have to walk a fine tightrope between quelling the Riot and potentially appearing to use excessive force against American citizens.

          Authoritarian regimes may be willing to use drastic measures against their own people (Tiananmen Square, for example), but the American public is going to be much less tolerant of Government action if they see night after night of teenagers being tear-gassed (or worse).

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          1. Joe1776

            No I am imagining hundreds of police with dozens of trucks arresting people and clearing the streets.

            No use of excessive force but you should have overwhelming numbers and actual consequences. Asking 10 cops to deal with a riot of hundreds of people is really dumb.

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    3. Avatar photo
      Pat Riot

      What Trump is doing will make things worse.

      What Biden is doing will make things better.

      It's not as simple as just sending the Army to a city and killing everyone.

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      1. Joe1776

        No one needs to be killed just arrested.

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          Pat Riot

          Got it. There are, say, 15 million people in the Chicago area to take one example. Which ones need to be arrested? How exactly will federal forces help? No hand-waving here, tell us *exactly* how they will help. Please tell me you don't want some boondoggle done for show, like a bunch of tanks lining up on the street so the TV cameras can see them. Tell us *exactly* which federal forces, what they will do, and when they were trained to do that.

          Or maybe this isn't as simple as you first thought?

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        2. tla

          Easy on paper, harder in reality. If a single suspect like Blake can get shot, tell me how it looks when they start trying to arrest dozens if not hundreds of people....

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    4. Joe1776

      Oh ok I see he said it in the video not in the tweet text.

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  4. Avatar photo
    Victor Clairmont

    Problem is, because Biden is not doing many interviews, Republicans can keep hammering this point by saying now and switching too “he’s not condemning him enough!”

    Which, if you think about it, while saying he hasn’t condemned it (he has now for the record), switching to not doing it enough will be effective. There’s a case that, during the convention last week that I said opened up the Biden campaign by not addressing the riots (enough anyways) and Republicans are making full hay out of this.

    So, Biden needs to start getting out in front and doing lots of interviews. The basement strategy worked till the campaign season started. Maybe it will still work, but the polls are showing that Trump making mistakes but still being in front of the media, as opposed to Biden not being in front of the media, is shifting minds. Law and Order argument is taking hold as the economy reopens, Covid deaths decreases, and now we have on the internet plastered area’s on fire and viral video’s of protestors harassing diners.

    But yes, Biden has denounced the rioting.

    But the Republicans will now say, “too late.”

    Hmm....

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    1. Avatar photo
      Victor Clairmont

      Omg I should be in bed but I just realized Trump in his GOP convention speech said exactly what I said the republicans were going to say about Biden addressing this....

      He literally said all last week the democrats were quiet on this as the rioting happened and now Biden is speaking up because his polls are “dropping like a rock.” He then said “Too late Joe.”

      Call.

      Me.

      A.

      Prophet.

      Told you that would be the republican attack line. Damn, I’m good at this. Sorry Dems. I wish you fortune in this war to come for the presidency.

      Night!

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      1. Avatar photo
        Angie

        I never doubted he would say that, but, he is lying, Alec even did a fact check about it...he has said things several times before now...and alot this week...sigh...I really, really dislike that man

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      JohnF

      How much would be "enough"?

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        Victor Clairmont

        That, is up for the voters to decide. Wish I could answer that one. These things take on a life of their own, for better or for worse.

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    3. Avatar photo
      Angie

      He gave two yesterday, and one the day before
      So you not watch?

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      1. Avatar photo
        Victor Clairmont

        I did, I said he has denounced it....but I am just calling the football play here, republicans are gonna run with it. It just how....the game is played...ew.

        By the way Angie, did you watch the RNC stuff? I have....so many thoughts on it at the moment. Good and bad thoughts....

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        1. Avatar photo
          Angie

          I made it through the first night and just couldn't do anymore, it was very upsetting listening to lies and slurs about my "side", it was mean ( like I knew it would be) nasty and depressing, loud, and crass, all of my least favorite things... I just read my favorites and listened to podcasts after to see what happened the other days...

          He knows this, He has made two videos one written statement, and three in news interviews in three days, and he is also going to go to Wisconsin and other swing states...in early September. I really don't understand what you think he should do, he can't tell governors how to run their states , at least not in public...

          Is there anything at all you like about the left? ( myself included..lol)

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          1. Avatar photo
            Victor Clairmont

            You see the thing is....

            I don't think there is anything Biden can do on this point now on this issue.

            And Progressive not so much. Liberals? Absolutely.

            I am fine with unionization in area's of Oklahoma where teachers are the least paid in the country and their teachers run to Texas for more money.

            I love liberals that defend free speech, even for those that don't deserve it.

            I love defending people who have not come around to loving this country yet, even if they kneel for the flag. I may not like them kneeling, but it is the exact right move to defend fellow citizens in their personal choices.

            I love liberals that actually want to end useless wars like in the Middle East. No, I don't mean we become a dovish nation, we still need to walk with a big stick.

            I love people/liberals holding big corporations to account for unethical practices. I may be a free trader and capitalist, but I am not Aynn Randian and I know that people run away with greed.

            I believe we need a healthy democratic party and a healthy republican party. But both are sick at the moment.

            And I just don't see that stuff so much on the table this time around. And I think I said it to Ray Salami, when he pointed out in his wonderfully long life that he felt republicans had taken away the most freedom. Which, in my lifetime, my constitutional rights have seemed more under threat from Progressives (not old fashion Liberals ) than conservatives or even, those loser Alt Right people.

            I just never thought I would have to argue in the open square about free speech and hate speech from the government. I always thought as a kid it's a given.

            So I always have to be careful of the lens I am viewing the world, or the lens others might be viewing it from.

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          2. Avatar photo
            Angie

            PS: You aren't going to vote for him, so I am not sure why you care?

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        Angie

        "DO"

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          Victor Clairmont

          Heh.

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    4. Joe1776

      Condemning violence is not going to do anything. He needs to propose solutions including telling the governors to take the federal assistance Trump has been offering. The rioting can be stopped very quickly by bringing in trucks to arrest people for violating curfew and other crimes.

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        Angie

        He has no power here Joe, he is not the president...yet...
        I read that Kenosha was fine last night and tonight
        And the governor did call in the National Guard and then called in more

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          Victor Clairmont

          Right he's not president, but even the runner up has to offer solutions or what he would have done differently.

          Like for Covid, it has nothing to do with Biden so much as it happened while Trump was president. But people still expect and ask questions of how Biden would handle it if he was president now. If he doesn't meet those expectations, he (or whoever runs) gets attacked for not being ready or having a plan.

          So the better plan Biden has, cool. But again Angie, it seems Biden is going to have to come out more instead of staying away from the limelight. Otherwise, Trump may run roughshod all over him.

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            Angie

            Well, even as president he can't tell governors what to do you know...
            I thought you were a Federalist...lol
            As to your last line , I answered it above

            Trust me, his campaign knows all this and until now, they didn't need to, but, they will

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        Victor Clairmont

        I am not actually going to disagree with you.

        Yes, he needs more of a plan, I was just looking at it simply politically.

        Even if he does offer a plan, he is going to be hit with the line, "Too late." regardless I believe.

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        1. Peter

          He wasn’t late. Trump was too late to show any empathy to black communities.

          How bout that fact?

          People just want to connect democrats to this.

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          Angie

          He wasn't late....sigh

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    5. Tim Johnson

      You're right. I think they're afraid of gaffes. But I think Dems should just put the blinders on like the Republicans have and ignore them - you didn't hear much about Trump pronouncing 'Yosemite' as 'Yo Semite.'

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    Pat Riot

    It's absolutely bonkers that Trump's primary campaign message is, "the country is going to hell in a handbasket: vote to keep the current guy in there!".

    But given that, absolutely ridiculous lies are their only chance...

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      Wes

      What is I don’t get is how many people are taking that bait hook, line, and sinker.

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      rlritt

      In Bloomberg opinion. There is piece that outlines 7 Metrics of Trump's last 4 years and confirms exactly your point.

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    3. Tim Johnson

      hey, he's still learning, only been 4 years.

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        Adam

        That pivot is right around the corner!

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    rlritt

    Hey fact check. I just heard that the CDC no longer controls the covid 19 stats. Collection and reporting was taken over by the government. Is this true?

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      Alec Dent vertical-nib Author

      That is correct: in July the Trump administration ordered hospitals to send data to a central database in DC rather than to the CDC

      https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/politics/trump-cdc-coronavirus.html

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      1. Joe1776

        What about this: did the kamala harris really tweet that people should donate to a fund to help rioters post bail in Minnesota? That at least ties in with whether the Biden ticket is going to be strong against violence and rioting.

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          rlritt

          Yeah. She needs to keep her mouth shut. She is not favorite. She'll say anything she thinks might personally help her.

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        rlritt

        Thanks!

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      3. Tim Johnson

        I gave up my WSJ subscription because of the wingnuttery but saw a headline that the decision was reversed:

        https://www.wsj.com/articles/troubled-covid-19-data-system-returning-to-cdc-11597945770

        However, I haven't seen anyone else report it.

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          rlritt

          Hmm. We'll have to keep our ears open.

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        2. Avatar photocircle-angle-nib
          Alec Dent vertical-nib Author

          Ah, you beat me to the punch! I just came across that article as well. From the piece:

          "Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus coordinator, told hospital executives and government officials in Arkansas this week that the current system under which hospitals report new cases is 'solely an interim system' and that the reporting would soon go back to the CDC."

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            Devin H

            This seems like such a cluster. Did they only realize after the fact that they didn't have the infrastructure to handle all the data appropriately?? What a mess.

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            Victor Clairmont

            Argh! Everything changes so fast!

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      Victor Clairmont

      I think if you email Alec you get a better chance for a response in fact checks.

      But someone here may know of course.

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        rlritt

        Thanks!

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  7. John Cheyney

    I feel like you should just make a template for falsehoods that Fox News says about Democrats. You could just change the date and the names each time before you publish it. That will save you a lot of time and work between now and November.

    Work smarter, not harder. You'll get paid the same amount of money either way.

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    1. Tim Johnson

      I expect that from Fox, it's sad to see from the Journal opinion page. The editorial this week asking us to remember how great the economy was six months ago was precious.

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        rlritt

        There is an interesting economic analysis in Bloomberg today -- Trumps Presidency in 7 Metrics.

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