ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) - Former Vice President Joe Biden echoed some of the same veiled criticism of the Republican Trump administration he has been making at commencement speeches this month when he spoke Saturday at Cornell University.
Although Biden never mentioned President Donald Trump by name, the Democrat criticized the plan to build a wall on the Mexican border and to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
He said last year’s election “churned up some of the ugliest realities” in the country.
“I thought we had passed the days where it was acceptable for political leaders at local and national levels to bestow legitimacy on hate speech and fringe ideologies,” he said. He drew applause when he predicted: “This is a temporary state of affairs. The American people will not sustain this attitude for long, I promise you.”
Biden spoke at Cornell’s senior convocation address at the university’s football stadium. About 6,000 Cornell students will receive their degrees at commencement exercises Sunday. Cornell President Martha Pollack is giving the commencement address.
His speech comes after recent commencement addresses at Harvard University, Morgan State University in Baltimore and Colby College in Maine.
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