In The Know About Joe

Read Time: 3 Minutes

5/29

• Former Vice President Joe Biden, wearing a black face mask, marked Memorial Day by participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at a local veteran’s memorial near his Delaware home, in what was his first time in public after weeks of self-isolation amid the coronavirus pandemic.

• Former Vice President Joe Biden ripped President Trump as the president drew criticism for spending part of his Memorial Day weekend tweeting and golfing while the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus approaches 100,000.

“The presidency is about a lot more than tweeting from your golf cart. It requires taking on the ultimate responsibility for the biggest decisions in the world. Donald Trump simply wasn’t prepared for that. I promise you I will be,” he wrote.

• The AFL-CIO has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president. The labor group announced on Tuesday it will mobilize its members to defeat President Trump in November. It joins a long list of labor unions that have endorsed Biden.

• The presidential campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden has hired a national director for voter protection as expanding access to the ballot box emerges as a chief concern for Democrats, particularly amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The campaign announced Tuesday that it has tapped Rachana Desai Martin to join its legal team and serve as senior counsel.

• Former Vice President Joe Biden called for a “thorough” FBI investigation into the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died shortly after his arrest by the Minneapolis Police Department.

The local police chief announced earlier Tuesday that the FBI would lead the investigation into Floyd’s death. Four police officers were also fired after video of the incident emerged.

• Joe Biden on Wednesday called on the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate the death of George Floyd, the unarmed black man who was killed during an encounter with Minneapolis police officers.

We have to ensure that the Floyd family receives the justice they’re entitled to, and as a nation … we have to work relentlessly to eradicate these systemic failures that inflict so much damage on not just one family, one community, but on the people of color all across this nation.”

• Former Vice President Joe Biden says he hopes to decide on a running mate by Aug. 1, about two weeks before the Democratic nominating convention in Milwaukee.

• Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said Thursday she does not want to be presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick.

“It is an honor to be considered as a potential running mate, but I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration,” she said in a statement. “Nevada’s economy is one of the hardest hit by the current crisis and I will continue to focus on getting Nevadans the support they need to get back on their feet.”

• One of the Democratic Party’s top pollsters gave a presentation to senior members of former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign earlier this month making the case that Sen. Elizabeth Warren would provide the most upside as Biden’s running mate. The presentation warned that the biggest threat the Democrats face in 2020 is the “lack of support and disengagement of millennials and the fragmentation of non-Biden primary voters.”

• Former Vice President Joe Biden accused President Trump of calling for violence against Americans after the president threatened to deploy the military to Minneapolis amid protests over George Floyd’s death, with Trump tweeting “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

“I will not lift the President’s tweet. I will not give him that amplification. But he is calling for violence against American citizens during a moment of pain for so many. I’m furious, and you should be too.”