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Former Vice President of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks during the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik)
WASHINGTON – Joe Biden said Saturday that, as president, he would never use the military “as a support or private militia” and accused President Donald Trump of employing US forces to solve “personal vendettas” and violating the rights of citizens.
The Democratic presidential candidate, in a virtual address to the general conference of the National Guard Association of the United States, said that Trump recommended “that he be used to quote, ‘dominate’, his fellow citizens for exercising their right to protest peaceably”.
“We are so much better than this,” Biden said. “You deserve better.”
His comments came a day after General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress that the military will have no role in conducting the electoral process or in resolving a disputed vote.
It was a sign of rising tensions on both sides, as the president has stated without evidence that the expected increase in mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic will render the vote “inaccurate and fraudulent.” Trump has also suggested that he might not accept the election results if he loses.
Biden has said he is “absolutely convinced” that the military would escort Trump out of the White House if the incumbent loses but refuses to leave.
Biden did not repeat the claim while addressing the conference, but promised to restore the separation between civilian and military powers that he called “the fundamental principle of our republic.”
“He’s been tested lately, but I promise you, as president, that I will never put him in the middle of politics or personal revenge,” the former vice president said. “I will never use the army as a support or as a private militia to violate the rights of fellow citizens. That is not law and order. “
That was a reference to Trump’s recent efforts to expand federal intervention in some cities while making “law and order” a centerpiece of his re-election bid, in the context of protests against institutional racism and police brutality that have plagued the country.
In July, the president deployed federal forces to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, after sending Homeland Security agents to Portland, Oregon.
Trump also announced this week that federal troops would be dispatched to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where riots broke out after last weekend’s police shooting on the back of Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man.
Biden has said he has considered traveling to Wisconsin to try to defuse the situation, but only if it can be done “safely” and without inflammatory circumstances “on the ground.”
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