President Biden tells NAACP crowd he won't stop 'telling the truth' about Trump

An energized President Joe Biden returned to the campaign trail Tuesday with a keynote address at the NAACP convention on the Strip, get-out-the-vote efforts in North Las Vegas and a deli counter in the Historic Westside.

Biden and the crowd — at least 1,000 strong — at the 115th annual NAACP National Convention convening at the Mandalay Bay were upbeat but very aware of the tensions that have gripped the country since last weekend’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

“It’s time for an important conversation in this country. Our politics have become too heated,” Biden said.

That didn’t stop him from listing why Trump’s administration was “hell” for Black Americans, including the former president’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, skyrocketing unemployment amid early lockdowns and attempts to, as Biden put it, erase Black history.

“Just because we must lower the temperature in our politics as it relates to violence doesn’t mean we should stop telling the truth,” Biden told the crowd that often broke into chants of “Four more years!”

The president is aiming to showcase his administration’s support for Black voters who are a tentpole of the Democratic coalition and of his personal political support. As part of his swing in Nevada, he’ll also participate in an interview with BET and address the Latino advocacy group Unidos-

US, another crucial Democratic-leaning bloc.

Biden said it’s “time to outlaw” AR-style rifles,” like the kind the shooters used in the Trump attack, the 2022 massacre of schoolchildren in Uvalde, Texas, and concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas in 2017.

The 81-year-old Biden has rejected a flurry of calls from within his party to step aside after a poor debate performance last month, restating his belief that he is the best-positioned Democrat to beat Trump.

He has relied heavily on his support among Black and Latino elected officials and was set to appear with many of them in Nevada.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson, in an interview with The Associated Press, sidestepped questions about whether Biden should step aside as the Democratic nominee and whether the president, who often credits his place in the Oval Office to Black voters, could still inspire people to turn out for his candidacy.

Johnson instead focused on the need for Black voters to hear “solutions” on issues like inflation, education and attacks on civil rights, which are among the top concerns for Black communities in this election.

“We want to focus on the policy goals of whoever occupies the White House in the next term,” Johnson said. He added that Black voters would dismiss candidates “concerned with personality and sound bites.”

Later, speaking at an economic summit hosted by U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., at the College of Southern Nevada’s campus in North Las Vegas, Biden announced that the regional housing authority and municipal officials would receive a $50 million federal grant to build 400 affordable housing units — playing up his attempts to lower rents in a state where housing costs are a critical political issue.

The president also talked about his administration’s efforts to ease the effects of extreme heat on the workforce, while continuing to lay into his opponent in November’s election.

“Trump says he doesn’t believe climate change is real. Maybe he should step out here in Vegas, where it’s 120 degrees, in his bare feet,” Biden said as the crowd hooted.

Biden is also proposing to cap rent increases at 5% for tenants whose landlords own over 50 units. If landlords hiked rents by more than that, they would lose access to some tax write-offs. But doing that would require congressional approval that Biden is unlikely to receive with a Republican House majority.

“This is a critical step toward addressing the affordable housing crisis in Southern Nevada. Many in Nevada have been priced out of the housing market,” U.S. Rep Dina Titus, D-Nev., said in a statement. She added, “Having a roof over one’s head should be a right, not a privilege.”

Security was tight on the Strip and elsewhere on Biden’s path.

Federal, state and local law enforcement officers, in standard uniforms, civilian clothes and tactical gear, were highly visible on foot, motorcycle and in vehicles.

Biden is expected to continue his Nevada swing today with an address at the UnidosUS conference at the MGM Grand.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

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