Joe Biden: The Best Choice for America
By Rep. Ron Klein, JDCA Board Chair
Joe Biden has the competence, integrity, and demeanor to lead us out of the self-inflicted crisis that Donald Trump has created in America. Thanks to Donald Trump’s denial of science and inability to lead, more than 230,000 Americans have died from coronavirus, and millions more have been infected. All of them now have pre-existing conditions and could find themselves without access to quality, affordable healthcare following the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. She will, in all likelihood, join the Republican-appointed majority to overturn the Affordable Care Act and Roe v. Wade, depriving tens of millions of access to affordable healthcare and reproductive rights. It will take generations to undo the damage done by Donald Trump, and there’s only one trajectory out of this morass consistent with our values.
Joe Biden represents a different — and more promising — future from the downward spiral and damage created by Trump. One year ago, Biden warned that the United States was not prepared for a pandemic, and we can be confident that Biden would not have disregarded the pandemic playbook created during the Obama administration. Biden would not have mocked people for wearing masks or following the guidance of experts. He would not have pressured scientists and civil servants to do what was best for his political prospects or personal finances rather than what was best for the people of our country.
Trump’s flair for the dramatic might have made him a successful reality television host, but this is not a game. This is real. People have died, and are dying — including a member of my own family — because of Trump’s incompetence. The economy has stagnated because of Trump’s inability to see past the stock market and tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent. The world is a more dangerous place because of Trump’s self-serving personality-based foreign policy which has isolated us from our long-time allies. Iran is closer to nuclear weapons than when Trump took office because he recklessly withdrew from the Iran Deal with no Plan B. Regardless of what we might have thought about the Iran Deal, withdrawing while Iran was in compliance only made matters worse by isolating the United States, instead of Iran, from the rest of the world.
Americans fought World War II to end fascism, but now Trump is threatening our NATO allies even as he cozies up to dictators, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It’s no mystery why Trump feels more comfortable with authoritarian rulers than with our democratically elected allies. Trump disdains the values and institutions that make our country truly great, and he admires those who exercise power for self-enrichment. According to Trump, the rest of us — including the brave men and women who serve our military — are “suckers and losers.”
Trump showcased his unfitness for office at both presidential debates. The contrast between Trump and Biden could not have been starker. At the first debate, Trump refused to follow the rules that his team agreed to, constantly interrupting Biden, demonstrating volatility, and changing the subject. Trump made clear that he doesn’t respect the rules of our democracy either, refusing to commit to accepting the results of November’s election. Think about that. The President of the United States, the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, refused to commit to following the law. That’s rhetoric we expect from despots and dictators.
At the second debate, Trump shifted responsibility for the worst health crisis of our lifetimes to everyone but himself, and instead of taking advantage of a do-over to denounce white supremacy, he declared himself the least racist person in the room. Trump has repeatedly been asked to condemn white supremacy. This isn’t that hard — it’s an ask that any decent American, any responsible leader, should be able to answer unequivocally. Instead, over and over again, he refuses, equivocates, and hedges, exhibiting the same vacillation and dangerous lack of character that he demonstrated when he called neo-Nazis and white supremacists marching in Charlottesville “very fine people.” Trump doesn’t want to isolate himself from these supporters. It is crystal-clear why he’s got a lock on the white nationalist vote.
When I served in Congress, I worked with members of Congress from districts across the country, some Democratic, some Republican. Sometimes we disagreed, even strongly. But I never encountered the disrespect for our institutions, use of hatred for political purposes, or the raw incompetence that I see emanating from this White House. We need a president who reads briefing books and consults with experts, not a president who spends his time watching Fox News and tweeting threats, lies, and conspiracy theories to the American people.
Joe Biden’s steadiness, compassion, and basic decency are traits this country needs to heal after four tumultuous years. Biden has demonstrated these qualities for 50 years in public service as a successful United States Senator and Vice President. Where Trump has impulses, Biden has plans. Where Trump sows division, Biden preaches unity. We don’t have to agree on every aspect of Biden’s agenda to agree that what we need now is a competent leader who acts with integrity and looks out for all Americans, not only his ardent supporters. For most of American history, both presidential candidates met that criteria. But not today. This November, the only sound choice is Joe Biden.
Ron Klein is the chair of the board for the Jewish Democratic Council of America and served in Congress representing Florida’s 22nd District from 2007–2011.
