It’s Wednesday.
This Hump Day marks President Biden’s 91st day in office.
For day 91–President Biden will receive his daily brief. This afternoon he will deliver remarks on the coronavirus response and the state of the vaccinations.
When last we met on Tuesday President Biden had tweeted 1 time so far. He added another 9 tweets giving him a total of 10 tweets and 0 retweets for Tuesday.
12:51 p.m. D.C., time he shares an 11 second video montage of his meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan.
The montages voice over is two sentences that President Biden spoke during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Suga on April 16th, 2021.
President Biden: It’s been my pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Suga to the White House. Prime Minister Suga and I affirmed our ironclad support for U.S.-Japanese alliance and for our shared security.
For more on the bilateral meeting between President Biden and PM Suga, you can find it here, here, and here. Or you can revisit Monday’s Open Thread.
3:27 p.m. D.C., time he shares a live feed to his virtual tour of the Proterra electric battery manufacturing facility in South Carolina.
The video stream is 45 minutes and 3 seconds long. The introduction to the tour starts at the 21 minute and 39 second mark. I will not be transcribing the tour, since it would only confuse both you and me, given their are multiple speakers.
President Biden was expected to deliver remarks to employees at the Proterra facility but those remarks were cancelled in light of news that the jury had reached a verdict in the Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.
Chauvin stood accessed of murdering George Floyd, a black man, by keeping his knee pressed on Floyd’s neck during an arrest while Chauvin was a Minneapolis police officer. Floyd’s death was captured on video and sparked protests and riots across the country. On Tuesday a jury convicted Chauvin on all three counts against him, including second-degree murder. His bail was revoked and Chauvin was taken into custody. He will be back in court to learn his sentence in 8 weeks.
Elie Honig, a former federal and state prosecutor turned CNN Legal Analyst explained on CNN the next steps following the murder conviction.
President Biden’s next 7 tweets all regard the death of Floyd and Chauvin’s conviction. They are all related–some reworded statements taken from his remarks on Tuesday evening following the guilty verdict.
7:06 p.m. D.C., time he shares a live feed to his remarks.
The White House feed streamed for over an hour before the President and Vice President spoke in light of that, I’m posting the White House’s YouTube feed that is only 13 minutes and 54 seconds long. President Harris speaks before President Biden, her full remarks can be found here. President Biden spoke for 11 minutes according to the timestamp provided by the White House. I will be using the 13 minute and 54 second video for the cue marks posted below.
His next 6 tweets were sent at, 7:14 p.m., 7:17 p.m., 7:19 p.m., 7:23 p.m., 7:43 p.m., and 8:07 p.m. D.C., time.
President Biden (3:33): Today, a jury in Minnesota found former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all counts in the murder of George Floyd.
President Biden (4:49): today’s verdict is a step forward.
President Biden (5:07): Nothing can ever bring their brother, their father back. But this can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America.
President Biden (7:27): No one should be above the law. And today’s verdict sends that message. But it is not enough. We can’t stop here. In order to deliver real change and reform, we can and we must do more to reduce the likelihood that tragedies like this will ever happen and occur again.
President Biden (9:41): There’s meaningful police reform legislation in his name. You just heard the Vice President speak of it. She helped write it. Legislation to tackle systemic misconduct in police departments, to restore trust between law enforcement and the people that are entrusted to serve and protect. But it shouldn’t take a whole year to get this done. In my conversations with the Floyd family — and I spoke with them again today — I assured them that we’re going to continue to fight for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act so we can — I can sign it into law as quickly as possible.
President Biden (13:05): “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” Those were George Floyd’s last words. We can’t let those words die with him. We have to keep hearing those words. We must not turn away. We can’t turn away.
President Biden (13:47): This can be a moment of significant change.
President Biden (4:58): And I also just spoke with George Floyd’s family again — a remarkable family of extraordinary courage. Nothing can ever bring their brother, their father back. But this can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America.
President Biden for Wednesday also tweeted, 2 times so far with no retweets, video snips from his remarks on Floyd’s death and the guilty verdict handed down on Tuesday.
9:09 a.m. D.C., time he shares a 1 minute and 57 second video.
President Biden (7:37): In order to deliver real change and reform, we can and we must do more to reduce the likelihood that tragedies like this will ever happen and occur again; to ensure that Black and brown people or anyone — so they don’t fear the interactions with law enforcement, that they don’t have to wake up knowing that they can lose their very life in the course of just living their life. They don’t have to worry about whether their sons or daughters will come home after a grocery store run or just walking down the street or driving their car or playing in the park or just sleeping at home. And this takes acknowledging and confronting, head on, systemic racism and the racial disparities that exist in policing and in our criminal justice system more broadly. You know, state and local government and law enforcement needs to step up, but so does the federal government. That’s why I have appointed the leadership at the Justice Department that I have, that is fully committed to restoring trust between law enforcement and the community they are sworn to serve and protect. I have complete confidence in the Attorney General — General Garland’s leadership and commitment. I have also nominated two key Justice Department nominees — Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke — who are eminently qualified, highly respected lawyers who have spent their entire careers fighting to advance racial equity and justice. Vanita and Kristen have the experience and the skill necessary to advance our administration’s priorities to root out unconstitutional policing and reform our criminal justice system, and they deserve to be confirmed.
10:00 a.m. D.C., time President Biden shares a 1 minute and 01 second video.
President Biden (10:39): The guilty verdict does not bring back George. But through the family’s pain, they are finding purpose so George’s — George’s legacy will not be just about his death, but about what we must do in his memory. I also spoke to Gianna — George’s (inaudible) — George’s young daughter, again. When I met her last year — I’ve said this before — at George’s funeral, I told her how brave I thought she was. And I, sort of, knelt down to hold her hand. I said, “Daddy’s looking down on you. He’s so proud.” She said to me then — I’ll never forget it — “Daddy changed the world.” Well, I told her this afternoon, “Daddy did change the world.” Let that be his legacy.
Speaking of Attorney General Merrick Garland…
On Wednesday AG Garland announced a civil investigation into the Minneapolis police department.
The investigation is to determine whether or not the Minneapolis Police department engages in a “pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing.” He goes on to say that this civil investigation is “separate from and independent of” the federal criminal investigation into Floyd’s death that was announced previously by the Justice Department.
White House daily press briefing is scheduled to start at 12:15 p.m. D.C., time.
Live Feed: The White House.
President Biden’s remarks on the coronavirus response and state of the vaccinations is scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. D.C., time.
Live Feed: The White House.
This is an Open Thread.
