During a livestreamed address made from his house on Friday afternoon, presumptive Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden talked about his conversations with George Floyd’s family and made a heartfelt plea to American citizens, Good Morning America reported. Biden began his address by saying that he had spoken to members of Floyd’s family Friday morning and expressed his condolences. He also said that he acknowledged that the Minneapolis resident was one of many black men that have lost their basic human rights, as well as their lives.
Biden went on to say that it is essential to pursue justice for Floyd and his family.
“We have to pursue justice with every ounce of our beings. We have to pursue it with real urgency,” he said. “We’ve got to make real the promise of America which we’ve never fully grasped — that all men and women are equal, not only at creation but throughout their lives.”
The former vice president then thanked Floyd’s family for speaking with him.
“I promise you, I promise you we’ll do everything in our power to see to it that justice is had in your brother, your cousin’s case.”
Biden ended the statement with a plea to Americans to fight for justice as well.
“Folks we gotta stand up, we gotta move, we gotta change,” he said.
. @JoeBiden begins his remarks saying that he has spoken to #GeorgeFloyd family and expressed regret that he has joined many other black Americans who have been deprived of their basic human and civil rights that include the basic right to breathe. pic.twitter.com/UXS0GKDUFK
— Marianna Sotomayor (@MariannaReports) May 29, 2020
Over the past few days, Biden has been very vocal about Floyd’s death and how the police officers involved need to be held accountable.
During a livestreamed event on Wednesday, Biden said that he was glad the officers involved had been fired, but that firing them wasn’t enough, according to PBS News . He stressed that the officers needed to be held responsible in a more serious way. Biden then added that Floyd’s death was part of a systemic problem that continually harms communities of color all over the country and that Americans need to work together to fix these systems of oppression.
Biden has also been vocal about the president’s response to Floyd’s death and the ensuing protests.
On Friday morning, Biden took to Twitter to condemn President Donald Trump’s tweets about the protests in Minnesota and other parts of the country that started to turn violent Wednesday night and continued to escalate on Thursday, CNBC reported. Earlier that morning, the president tweeted about sending the National Guard to quell protests in Minneapolis, threatening violence against anyone who was looting. The Democratic presidential hopeful quickly fired back on Twitter, saying that it was infuriating that a sitting president was calling for violence against Americans who chose to protest.