Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday condemned President Trump’s rhetoric while campaigning for Democrats in Ohio, arguing that the president “assigns moral equivalence” to “dark forces” of hatred.
“When hatred is given a space to fester it encourages the seedier side of society to come out … and the president of the United States assigns moral equivalence to these dark forces,” Biden said during a rally at Youngstown State University in support of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray and other candidates, The Toledo Blade reported.
“The forces of hate and terror have worked on the psyche of our fellow Americans, and targets have been people with different political beliefs or different colors of their skin or different religions,” he added.{mosads}
Biden during his remarks condemned Saturday’s attack at a synagogue in Pittsburgh that left 11 people dead, as well as a series of bombs sent last week to Democrats and other former government officials, including himself, who have exchanged criticism with Trump.
The former vice president told the crowd that “words matter, words from our leaders matter” and said that “political opponents are not our enemies,” according to the Blade. He also said that “the press is not the enemy of the people,” a reference to Trump’s attacks against the news media.
Biden was among several Democrats who were mailed bombs last week, along with former President Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder and others. One of the packages, addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, was also mailed to CNN’s offices in New York, forcing an evacuation.
Authorities have since charged Cesar Sayoc Jr., a Florida resident, with sending the bombs.
Biden on Monday urged voters to participate in next week’s midterm elections, describing them as “a battle for the soul of America” and saying that the election is “about more than issues.”
“We all know there’s something in our gut that’s bigger than the election, something that’s bigger than politics as usual. It’s about more than issues. It’s about who we are as Americans,” he said, according to the Blade.