A6 THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019 WST LATIMES.COM

THE NATION

BURLINGTON, Iowa —
Democratic presidential
candidates, in a break from
competing against one an-
other, closed ranks Wednes-
day to denounce President
Trump’s inflammatory lead-
ership and harsh rhetoric in
the aftermath of back-to-
back mass shootings, even
as the president met with
families and first responders
in the two cities mourning
the 31 people killed last
weekend.
Former Vice President
Joe Biden, opening a four-
day campaign swing
through Iowa, discarded his
standard stump speech and
launched a scorching attack
on what he called Trump’s
exploitation of racism for
political purposes, appear-
ing visibly angry at times.
“In both clear language
and in code, this president
has fanned the flames of
white supremacy in this na-
tion,” Biden said in a 25-min-
ute speech focused almost
entirely on the president.
“Trump offers no moral
leadership, no interest in
unifying the nation, no evi-
dence the presidency has
awakened his conscience in
the least.”
“Our president has more
in common with George Wal-
lace than George Washing-
ton,” Biden added.
It sounded more like a
general election campaign
pitch than one designed to
give the audience of Iowa
Democrats — many still un-
committed to Biden or any
other candidate — a reason
to pick him over others com-
peting for the party’s nomi-

nation.

One of Biden’s 2020 ri-

vals, Sen. Cory Booker of

New Jersey, spoke at a site

laden with emotional signifi-

cance, especially for African

Americans: the Emanuel Af-

rican Methodist Episcopal

Church in Charleston, S.C.,

where a white supremacist

gunman killed nine black

worshipers in 2015.

Booker noted that the ac-

cused gunman in El Paso

had warned, in a screed

posted online shortly before

the shooting, of an “inva-

sion” from Mexico, echoing

Trump’s repeated alarms

last fall of a looming “inva-

sion” of migrants approach-

ing the southern border.

Booker demanded that

lawmakers not only ban the

assault-style weapons used

in the massacres but step up

scrutiny of white suprema-

cist activity, which he

blamed for making the coun-

try less safe for immigrants,

African Americans and

other minority groups.

But Booker said criticiz-

ing Trump is not an ade-

quate response to the ills

tearing at society, and that

Americans need to confront

the nation’s history of big-

otry.

“The character and the

culture of who we are hangs

in the balance,” he said. “We

can’t let these conversations

devolve into the impotent

simplicity of who is or isn’t a

racist. The real question

isn’t who is or isn’t a racist,

but who is or isn’t doing

something about it.”

Beto O’Rourke, who sus-

pended his 2020 campaign

activities to return to his

hometown of El Paso after a

gunman killed 22 people at a

Walmart, has been particu-

larly blunt in calling Trump

a racist and a white suprem-

acist.

Trump fired back on

Twitter early Wednesday,

saying the former Texas

congressman should be

“embarrassed” by his weak

showing so far in 2020 polls,

and “should respect the vic-

tims & law enforcement — &

be quiet.”

O’Rourke, who planned

to attend a protest rally in El

Paso during Trump’s visit,

quickly tweeted back, “

people in my hometown are

dead after an act of terror in-

spired by your racism. El

Paso will not be quiet and

neither will I.”

Other Democratic candi-

dates took swipes at the

president’s daylong trip to El

Paso and Dayton, Ohio, say-

ing his efforts to comfort a

reeling nation were over-

shadowed by his refusal to

acknowledge any role in fo-

menting white nationalism

and racial divisions.

“We have a president who

is an overt racist and xeno-

phobe,” said Sen. Bernie

Sanders of Vermont. “He

should stay away from El

Paso. What he should do

right now is end his anti-im-

migrant rhetoric.”

Before leaving Washing-

ton on Wednesday, Trump

rejected the suggestion that

he has encouraged violence.

“I don’t think my rhetoric

does at all,” he told reporters

at the White House. “I think

my rhetoric brings people

together. Our country is do-

ing really well.”

He later took to Twitter

to denigrate Biden’s speech,

having apparently watched

it between stops in Ohio and

Texas. “Watching Sleepy Joe

Biden making a speech,” he

wrote. “Sooo Boring.”

The national horror over

the shootings has — at least

for now — shifted the tone

and focus of the Democrats’

presidential primary, which

had been dominated by can-

didates bickering during

and after the latest round of

debates.

In arguably the most

fiery speech of his campaign

so far, Biden leveled a blis-

tering critique of Trump’s

speech at the White House

on Monday that focused on

the shootings.

“His low-energy, vacant-

eyed mouthing of the words

written for him condemning

white supremacists this

week I don’t believe fooled

anyone, at home or abroad,”

Biden said.

Biden tied his critique of

Trump to one of the pillars of

his presidential campaign

when he said: “We have a

president who has aligned

himself with the darkest

forces in this nation. And

that makes winning the bat-

tle for the soul of this nation

that much harder.”

Biden has made the “bat-

tle for the soul of the nation”

a central theme of his cam-

paign, which was launched

with an immediate focus on

Trump and general election

themes.

His supporters see him

on stronger ground when he

is setting himself in opposi-

tion to Trump than when he

is at odds with his Demo-

cratic primary opponents.

His record was attacked and

he was inconsistent in his

ability to respond forcefully

during the first two debates

of the campaign.

Hook reported from

Burlington and Beason

from Los Angeles. Times

staff writer Molly O’Toole in

Washington contributed to

this report.

Biden says president’s words fuel hate

JOE BIDEN, speaking in Burlington, Iowa, said President Trump “has fanned the

flames of white supremacy in this nation,” and compared him to George Wallace.

Charlie NeibergallAssociated Press

Vice president among

Democrats assailing

Trump in aftermath

of El Paso shooting.

By Janet Hook
and Tyrone Beason

SEN. CORY BOOKER of New Jersey speaks inside

a church in Charleston, S.C., where a white suprema-

cist gunman killed nine black worshipers in 2015.

Sean RayfordGetty Images

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