On Sunday, President Joe Biden stopped by a church in the Atlanta area where Martin Luther King, Jr. preached — and where Raphael Warnock, now one of Georgia’s Democratic Senators, is a pastor.
Biden shared a message outlining some of the struggles Americans have faced — including that of insurrection — but insisting upon the opportunity for those involved and affected to move the rhetorical needle towards the kind of justice represented by the promise of the country and what its laws are supposed to represent. Biden has consistently spoken about his push for unity amid his rise to and time in the presidency, which is a stark contrast from Trump, who even spoke dismissively of the sickness and death from COVID-19 in so-called “blue” states. Obviously, the campaign he waged against the well-documented and legitimate results of the 2020 election also threatened to force the erasure of millions of votes cast by everyday Americans, undoing basic democratic principles.
“Are we a people who will choose democracy over autocracy?” Biden asked early on Sunday. “Couldn’t ask that question 15 years ago. Everyone thought democracy was settled. Not for African-Americans. But democracy, as an institutional structure, was settled. But it’s not. It’s not. We have to choose a community over chaos. Are we the people who are going to choose love over hate? These are the vital questions of our time and the reason why I’m here as your President. I believe Dr. King’s life and legacy show us the way we should pay attention. I really do.”
“And the battle for the soul of this nation is perennial,” he added to the crowd at the church. “It’s a constant struggle. It’s a constant struggle between hope and fear, kindness and cruelty, justice and injustice; against those who traffic in racism, extremism, and insurrection; a battle fought on battlefields and bridges, from courthouses and ballot boxes, to pulpits and protests. And at our best, the American promise wins out.” In one example of this success for those pushing for democracy, candidates supporting Trump’s lies about the country’s elections lost in a slew of high-profile elections last year.
“The soul of America is embodied in the sacred proposition that we’re all created equal in the image of God,” Biden added Sunday. “That was the sacred proposition for which Dr. King gave his life. It was a sacred proposition rooted in Scripture and enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. A sacred proposition he invoked on that day in 1963 when he told my generation about his dream — a dream in which we’re all entitled to be treated with — my father’s favorite word — dignity and respect. A dream in which we all deserve liberty and justice. And it is still the task of our time to make that dream a reality, because it’s not there yet.” In a speech the following day, Biden blasted the GOP proposal that was evidently set for a vote in the House that would institute national sales taxes, which would disproportionately impact those making less if the measure replaced current income taxes. He pledged to veto key tax proposals from the GOP, should he be faced with them. Watch below:
President Biden on House Republicans' tax proposals: "Let me be clear: If any of these bills happen to reach my desk, I will veto them." https://t.co/MCAevbQa1N pic.twitter.com/dBe5j1nJcY
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 16, 2023
