BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – Joe Biden on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump of “fanning the flames of white supremacy” in his most aggressive attack yet on the character of the man he would like to defeat in 2020.
“Trump offers no moral leadership,” Biden declared in Burlington, Iowa. The president “seems to have no interest in unifying the nation.”
Biden’s remarks, which have been echoed in some form by most of the Democratic presidential candidates, signaled how sharp and bitter the nation’s cultural and political divides will be on the long road to Election Day.
They also marked a moment of unity for Biden and his presidential rivals, who have turned on each other in recent weeks. But on Wednesday, they were nearly unanimous in their support of an aggressive plan to confront gun violence just days after another series of mass shootings elevated the issue to the forefront of the party’s presidential primary.
Virtually all of them vowed to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, while some, like Cory Booker, called for requiring all gun owners to obtain licenses.