Trump news: Joe Biden says president has turned nation 'into a battlefield' as governors push back against threats to deploy troops

Joe Biden: 'None of us any longer can hear the words ‘I can’t breathe’ and do nothing'

President Donald Trump is claiming “domination” over protestors after police departments forcefully cracked down on days-long demonstrations across the country, as governors push back against his threats to deploy federal troops to cities facing riots.

The president is continuing to take on a “law and order” image while reportedly warning governors nationwide the federal government would intervene if they don’t quell the protests — some of which have devolved into chaotic scenes of violence and looting by nightfall. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, blasted Mr Trump for the threats, saying the president turned the nation "into a battlefield".

"He thinks division helps him," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said in a speech at Philadelphia's City Hall. "This narcissism has become more important than the nation's well-being."

Mr Biden seized on police driving back peaceful protesters near the White House on Monday so Trump could briefly pose with a Bible in front of nearby St John's Church.

"If he opened it instead of brandishing it, he could have learned something," Mr Biden said as he chided authorities for using "tear gas and flash grenades in order to stage a photo op."

Mr Biden said Mr Trump "might also want to open the U.S. Constitution. If he did, he'd find the First Amendment. It protects the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Mr Trump's senior advisor Kellyanne Conway denied that the president directed authorities' actions to move back the protesters and bristled at suggestions the church visit was merely a photo op. She countered that Mr Biden and other critics had no basis to second-guess what was in the president's heart and his intentions.

Still, Mr Biden's address marked a new phase of a presidential campaign that had been effectively frozen for more than two months by the spread of the coronavirus. The former vice president is now emerging from his Delaware home to confront Trump and using in-person appearances to offer direct competition with the president, rather than relying on virtual events that often failed to garner a lot of attention.

It was the third consecutive day that Biden made a public appearance and the first time he's been out of the state since March. His remarks were carried live on the three major cable news networks.

Mr Biden spoke as upheaval in the wake of Mr Floyd's death has spread around the country. While Biden spoke, the National Guard maintained a visible presence to defend public buildings as Philadelphia continues to face sustained violent protests. Several buildings adjacent to City Hall, including banks, convenience stores and hotels, were boarded up.

He spoke of the "tug of war between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh reality that racism has long torn us apart."

"The honest truth is both elements are part of the American character," he said.

Since the early days of his candidacy, Mr Biden has framed the election as a "battle for the soul of the nation." He went into greater detail on Tuesday about what that meant and the questions voters should ask themselves.

"I ask every American to look at where we are now and think anew: Is this who we are?" he said. "Is this who we want to be? Is this what we pass on to our kids' and grandkids' lives? Fear and finger-pointing rather than hope and the pursuit of happiness? Incompetence and anxiety? Self-absorption and selfishness?"

The tone was part of Mr Biden's effort to cast himself as a "consoler in chief" in stark contrast to Trump's blunt, confrontational style. While he noted that his anguish over the death of his son Beau five years ago from cancer isn't the same as the sadness felt by those protesting police brutality, he said he understood the hopelessness that can come with grief.

"Like many of you, I know what it's like to grieve," Mr Biden said. "I know what it feels like when you're thinking you can't go on."

Primary elections in nine states are meanwhile underway despite the continued demonstrations and coronavirus pandemic. Mr Trump is tweeting out his support for several Republican candidates while attacking his apparent enemies, including Governor Andrew Cuomo (D—NY).

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Check out The Independent's live updates below:

Please allow a moment for the live blog to load.

Key Points

• Trump's director of Secret Service called before Congress to discuss dispersal of peaceful protestors
• Archbishop calls president's visit to church 'baffling and reprehensible'
• Joe Biden hits out at Trump in emotional speech about the George Floyd protests
• President issues slew of Republican endorsements as eight states and DC head to the polls

[2 June 2020 18:15 · Chris Riotta]

  ↵

Bishop ‘outraged’ after Trump had protesters tear-gassed before posing with bible at her church

Gino Spocchia writes: A bishop says she is “outraged” after Donald Trump tear-gassed demonstrators outside the White House before posing with a bible at her church.

The US president visited the St. John’s Episcopal Church on Monday moments after he warned US troops would “dominate the streets” to end demonstrations against police brutality and George Floyd’s killing.

Police then tear-gassed protesters positioned between the White House and the church, where all American presidents since James Madison have worshipped, so Mr Trump could visit.

Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, told The Washington Post that she was “outraged” the White House had cleared demonstrations “with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop”.

“I am the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and was not given even a courtesy call,” added Ms Budde.

[2 June 2020 18:35 · Chris Riotta]

Trump 'appears to ask Melania to smile'

The president seemingly requested the first lady join in on smiling with him at the National Shrine for a photo opp in this cringeworthy moment: 

[2 June 2020 18:55 · Chris Riotta]

Trump staged photo op at church ‘out of anger at claims he was sheltering in White House bunker’

Andrew Naughtie writes: Donald Trump’s brief appearance at a shuttered church outside the White House on Monday was motivated by his fury at news coverage saying he was rushed to the White House bunker for his safety on Friday, reports say.

According to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Mr Trump made the highly unusual trip outside the White House gates – for which crowds were cleared by police – partly because he was “upset” by the coverage. Reacting to her report, a visibly dismayed Anderson Cooper replied, “Oh my god. We’re in trouble.”

His photo op at St John’s Episcopal Church, which is only a minute’s walk from the White House, was facilitated by riot police clearing Lafayette Square with tear gas and rubber bullets, holding protesters back less than 100 yards away so that the president could walk over to the church, where he silently held up a bible while explosions and shouting were heard from out of shot.

[2 June 2020 19:15 · Chris Riotta]

Opinion: Trump just declared war on the American people. 

Nylah Burton writes: Yesterday, as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets into a crowd outside the White House, Donald Trump declared war on the American people protesting the death of George Floyd. Floyd was a Black man who was killed on May 25th after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin buried his knee into Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. But after weeks of historic protests, it’s clear that this uprising is not just about Floyd — it’s about every single injustice that has been rained down upon the Black community since this country’s cursed inception, marred by genocide and slavery.

So far, protesters have destroyed the idols of American capitalism (luxury stores), the American police state (the Minneapolis 3rd precinct), and American racism (Confederate statues).

Police have responded with unimaginable violence. They drove vehicles through crowds and assaulted people on their own private property. They injured journalists and peaceful protesters with non-lethal and “less-than-lethal” weaponry. And they have done so with the full endorsement of a president who tweeted: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

[2 June 2020 19:35 · Chris Riotta]

Trump's Secret Service director called to brief Congress about violent dispersal of peaceful protesters near White House

Griffin Connolly writes: House Democrats are demanding that Secret Service Director James M. Murray appear before Congress to brief lawmakers about Donald Trump's short walk to St. John's Church in Washington, DC, for a photo op on Monday after mounted law enforcement officers deployed tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bang grenades against peaceful protesters to clear a path for the president.

"I request to receive a briefing no later than June 5, 2020, to understand the role of the United States Secret Service in planning, coordinating and executing these actions," House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson wrote to Mr Murray in a letter obtained by The Independent.

Mr Thompson wrote that while he understood Secret Service agents have faced "difficult decisions" as they have responded to acts of violence that have broken out at White House protests in recent days, he was "stunned, disturbed, and furious at the sight of federal authorities tear-gassing peaceful protesters" near Lafayette Square just north of the White House on Monday minutes before DC's 7 p.m. curfew.

[2 June 2020 19:54 · Chris Riotta]

Trump claims he's done more for the black community than 'any president since Abraham Lincoln'

The comments come as criticism mounts over reports the president cleared out a group of peaceful protestors mourning the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died at the hands of white police officers, to stage a photo op at a church:

[2 June 2020 20:15 · Chris Riotta]

Biden: 'I made a promise to George's family that he wouldn't just become another hashtag'

[2 June 2020 20:45 · Chris Riotta]

This conclude today's live coverage from The Independent.