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The Contrast Between Donald Trump and Joe Biden Has Never Been More Clear

collage: US tycoon Donald Trump plays a stroke as he officially opens his new multi-million pound Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on July 10, 2012. Work on the course began in July 2010, four years after the plans were originally submitted. AFP PHOTO / Andy Buchanan (Photo credit should read Andy Buchanan/AFP/GettyImages)Former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden(C) prays as he meets religious leaders in Wilmington, Delaware on June 1, 2020. - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden visited the scene of an anti-racism protest in the state of Delaware on May 31, 2020, saying that the United States was "in pain". "We are a nation in pain right now, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us," Biden wrote in Twitter, posting a picture of him speaking with a black family at the cordoned-off site where a protesters had gathered on Saturday night. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The photo above of Donald Trump is from 2012. We don’t have photos of Donald Trump yesterday or from the day before because he spent the most tumultuous weekend hiding, quite literally, from the unrest and protests that are rocking the country. Meanwhile, his presumptive Democratic opponent spent Sunday meeting with Black leaders in Deleware and listening. The contrast between these men has never been more stark.

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Frankly, no one was expecting Trump to do anything to quell the unrest, The only concrete action he could truly take to help the nation would be to resign. But he could have at least pretended to care about the concerns of Black Americans instead of inflaming everything with incoherent tweets and cowardice, and now reports that he’s told governors to come down even harder on the protesters. These protests are the direct result of the racism, fascism, and hate that Donald Trump represents. They are a reflection of the character of Trump, who is himself a distillation of the worst of America.

Trump spending the weekend hiding in a bunker and tweeting “LAW AND ORDER” in a massive contrast to Joe Biden, who spent a day listening to Black leaders in his hometown about how to be better. He also visited protest sites, his staff donated to bail funds, and he did all of this while safely wearing a mask. And when Biden and staff did the right things, Trump had nothing but derision.

The contrast continued today as Trump spent a phone call with governors telling them they needed to be more aggressive and militarized. Regarding protestors, Trump told governors: “You have to dominate or you’ll look like a bunch of jerks, you have to arrest and try people.” Trump spent his morning blaming the “radical left” and getting angry when he could have been doing literally anything else as President in a country aflame with injustice.

At the same time, Joe Biden announced that in the first 100 days of his presidency, he will create a police oversight board and pledged to work to improve things. He hosted a virtual roundtable with mayors of major cities on these issues. Biden has acted more presidential in the last two days than Trump has in his entire life, and the difference is staggering.

This is not to say that Joe Biden is a perfect candidate by any means, but when looking at the choice between a man who is inciting racist violence and empowering white supremacy, and the man who is taking steps to listen to Black leaders, learn and speak out against racism, the contrast could not be starker.

There’s a clear choice here, and while Joe Biden might not be the candidate everyone wanted, he’s the only one in the field that is expressing any care or regard for Black Americans. The contrast is right there for everyone to see.

AFP PHOTO / Andy Buchanan. JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

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Author
Jessica Mason
Jessica Mason (she/her) is a writer based in Portland, Oregon with a focus on fandom, queer representation, and amazing women in film and television. She's a trained lawyer and opera singer as well as a mom and author.

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