Biden calls for different path at Philly rally
away from their mothers’ arms at the border,” Green continued. “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.”
It was easy to see signs of anger in recent days as Biden courted Democratic primary voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina as part of his inaugural national tour. At a house party in New Hampshire earlier in the week, Biden took a question from a woman who called Trump “an illegitimate president” and said he should be impeached.
Biden jokingly asked if she’d be his running mate, before shifting the conversation to another topic. A spokeswoman later said Biden does not believe Trump is an illegitimate president.
Ahead in the polls in the early days of the 2020 contest, Biden is unlikely to embrace a more aggressive approach in the near future.
Referencing the health care fight under former President Barack Obama, he noted Saturday that he knows how to win “a bare-knuckle fight,” but later added, “We need to stop fighting and start fixing.”
“If the American people want a president to add to our division, to lead with a clenched fist, closed hand and a hard heart, to demonize the opponents and spew hatred — they don’t need me. They’ve got President Donald Trump,” he said. “I am running to offer our country — Democrats, Republicans and independents — a different path.”
Before Biden took the stage, longtime admirer Bradley Skelcher, of Smyrna, Delaware, praised Biden’s optimistic message. But he described himself as “damn angry” about the Trump presidency.
“We need calm. You don’t want anybody like me running the country,” Skelcher said. “Somebody needs to calm us down a little.”
Associated Press writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed.