Biden says those flaming riots of 2020 ‘unified people of every race and generation’

Another day, another chance for President Joe Biden to prove he must be living in an altered reality apart from the rest of America.

Biden acknowledged the second anniversary of George Floyd’s death by signing an executive order addressing police reform on Wednesday.

“This executive order is going to deliver the most significant police reform in decades,” he told those gathered at the White House ceremony, which included members of Floyd’s family.

“That’s why the executive order I’ll be signing today is so important in my view. It’s a measure of what we can do together to heal the very soul of this nation, to address profound fear and trauma, exhaustion that particularly Black Americans have experienced for generations. And to channel that private plain and public outrage into a rare mark of progress for years to come,” he said.


(Video: PBS NewsHour)

But Biden’s recollection of the nation’s descent into chaos following Floyd’s death, with cities across the U.S. engulfed in violent rioting, seems decidedly different than what most Americans remember.

“Two summers ago, in the middle of the pandemic, we saw protests across the nation the likes of which you hadn’t seen since the 1960s. They unified people of every race and generation,” he claimed.

“Athletes and sports leagues boycotted and postponed games. Companies and workers proclaimed Black Lives Matter. Students staged solidarity walkouts. From Europe to the Middle East to Asia to Australia, people saw their own fight for justice and equality, what we were trying to do,” he added.

Biden must have been hiding out in his basement throughout much of that imaginary time that the nation was experiencing so much unity. Social media responses were right on target.

Frieda Powers

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