President Biden, while drumming up support from Black voters in Philadelphia on Wednesday, said former President Trump wanted to tear gas those who “peacefully protested” George Floyd’s murder in 2020.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appeared at Girard College, a predominantly Black boarding school in Philadelphia, thanking Black voters for helping to clinch presidential victory in November 2020.
During his speech, the president focused on items that his administration worked on to better the lives of Black voters, including the elimination of lead pipes for safer drinking water; the removal of pollution near fenceline communities; affordable high-speed internet; and the protection of the Affordable Health Care Act.“A promise made, and a promise kept,” Biden said.
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President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally at Girard College on Wednesday in Philadelphia.
As he made his pitch to the room, Biden pulled no punches toward his chief opponent in the presidential election.
Biden told the crowd that Trump called Jan. 6 rioters patriots and that he wants to pardon every one of them.
“Let me ask you: What do you think [Trump] would have done on Jan. 6, if Black Americans had stormed [the Capitol],” Biden asked. “I don’t think he’d be talking about pardons. This is the same guy who wanted to tear gas you as you peacefully protested George Floyd’s murder.”
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
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Smoke rises from a fire on a police cruiser, May 30, 2020, in Philadelphia, during riots that erupted after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke/File)
In May 2020, public protests and demonstrations in Philadelphia in response to the death of Floyd and against alleged police brutality started out as peaceful assemblies before turning violent.
The violence involved defacing an iconic statue of famed former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, demonstrators climbing atop glass fixtures near the SEPTA subway entrance, and at least a dozen storefronts along the popular Chestnut and Walnut street corridors getting looted or defaced.
Several Philadelphia Police Department vehicles were reportedly set ablaze in the vicinity — as well as a Pennsylvania State Police cruiser — and a Starbucks was seen engulfed in flames on Dilworth Plaza, which sits along the west rampart of City Hall.
An undated photo of George Floyd, who died May 25, 2020, after Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. (Christopher Harris via AP/File)
Police officers ultimately equipped themselves in riot gear before reportedly confronting a crowd near the Municipal Services Building at 16th and Arch streets. The officers were said to have pressed the crowd back as they threw projectiles, and tried to push through the police line by using a fence.
As a result of the initial night of protests, over a dozen police officers were injured and a mandatory curfew was put in place.
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The White House did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital seeking clarification on Biden’s remarks about the protests being peaceful.
Protests and riots broke out across the nation in the spring and summer of 2020, after Floyd, 46, died in Minneapolis police custody.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
