Walsh: Dems must stop Trump
Doesn’t want 4 more years of ‘damage’ from president
Mayor Martin Walsh lashed out against the Trump presidency Sunday, insisting his party must “win the White House back” and repair the damage that has been done to the country, in comments that came a day after former Vice President Joe Biden told a crowd in Philadelphia that Democrats won’t win the presidency with an angry nominee.
“We quite honestly need to win the White House back,” Walsh said Sunday. “I mean, what Trump has done, the damage he’s done the last couple of years — has been really bad and God forbid he does it for another four.”
Walsh labeled Biden as a “top-tier” Democratic candidate, along with U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris. He also listed “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., as a rising candidate who is “campaigning really hard.” The mayor didn’t mention U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has consistently polled ahead of the rest of the field except Biden. A recent Quinnipiac University poll placed Biden first, Sanders second and Warren third. Walsh has not yet endorsed a candidate.
Biden on Saturday pushed a message of bipartisanship and unity in front of a crowd of thousands in his native state — telling Democrats who insist on nominating a candidate who can channel the party’s anger toward Trump, to slow down.
“That’s what they are saying you have to do to win the Democratic nomination. Well, I don’t believe it,” the 76-year-old candidate said. “I believe Democrats want to unify this nation. That’s what the party’s always been about. That’s what it’s always been about. Unity.”
While Biden is pushing a centrist approach, some voters believe a more aggressive, anti-Trump campaign will win the presidency.
“I want aggressive change. I’m not hearing that from him yet,” Jennifer Moyer, 45, of Blandon, Pa., said. “I don’t want middle of the road.”
Adam Green, the cofounder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said he has a hard time believing Biden isn’t angry about what’s happening in the country.
“Has he been living in the Trump era?” Green asked. “Kids are being torn away from their mothers’ arms at the border. It’s completely legitimate to have righteous outrage at this horrible Trump moment in history, and to want a candidate who will channel that anger toward positive change.”
Bradley Skelcher, of Smyrna, Del., however, bought into Biden’s message of unity.
“We need calm. You don’t want anybody like me running the country,” Skelcher said. “Somebody needs to calm us down a little.”