President Biden told America’s foremost Black advocacy group that he is “all in” this campaign year and urged Americans to reject all forms of gun violence as he tries to reset his campaign and lower tensions following an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Mr. Biden said he is grateful Mr. Trump, the GOP nominee, was not seriously injured in the Saturday shooting in Pennsylvania that grazed his ear, killed one of Mr. Trump’s supporters and wounded two others.
“We continue to pray for him and his family. Our politics has gotten too heated,” Mr. Biden said in a speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, in Las Vegas.
The president drew a parallel to other gun tragedies, however, including the mass shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, and the shooting of Black shoppers in Buffalo, New York.
“If you’re going to be outspoken on one, don’t be silent on others,” Mr. Biden said.
Critics have noted that Mr. Biden spoke about putting Mr. Trump in a “bull’s-eye” shortly before the shooting.
Mr. Biden pulled down ads after the assassination attempt. But on Tuesday, he snapped back into campaign mode by deriding Mr. Trump’s character, his push to destroy Obamacare and the GOP standard-bearer’s penchant for using the term “Black jobs.”
“I know what a Black job is — it’s the vice president of the United States,” Mr. Biden said, sparking cheers for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The president also drew cheers when he erroneously announced that he plans to cap rent increases “to $55.” His proposal would limit rent increases to 5%.
Mr. Biden called the NAACP one of the most important organizations in the country.
“My name’s Joe Biden and I’m a lifetime member of the NAACP,” he said before repeating a catchphrase used by organization leaders. “And I am all in.”
Black voters are a key constituency for the Democratic Party.
Some polls show Black voters, particularly men, drifting toward Mr. Trump this time, and many Democrats are urging Mr. Biden, 81, to step aside so that a younger Democrat can lead the ticket.
However, other surveys show Black voters are the least likely to want Mr. Biden to drop out of the race after his poor debate performance in Atlanta on June 27.
While majorities of other groups say Mr. Biden should step aside, slightly less than half — 49% — of Black voters say he should quit, including only 32% among Black people aged 50 and older, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey.
Mr. Biden pointed to his service as vice president under President Obama — the first Black U.S. president — and his own decision to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Mr. Biden has said he is committed to running this fall. But as speculation swirls about his future, he said Ms. Harris is prepared to assume the top role.
“She’s not only a great vice president, she could be president of the United States,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Biden touted his efforts to close wage gaps between Black and White workers, and he pointed to initiatives to expunge criminal records for marijuana offenses. He said he is taking on medical debt and capping insulin costs for seniors and vowed to restore abortion access in all states if he wins reelection and has the votes in Congress.
Mr. Biden spoke to the NAACP as part of a two-day trip through Nevada, a swing state.
The White House said Mr. Biden will give the keynote address at the UnidosUS Annual Conference — a large Latino gathering — on Wednesday before attending a separate campaign event in Las Vegas.
Mr. Biden won Nevada and its 6 electoral votes in 2020 and might need the state again to overcome Mr. Trump, who leads the president by an average of 4 to 5 points in Nevada polls.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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