Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights legend who has gone on to a distinguished career as a lawmaker, endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president on Tuesday. Despite the endorsement coming during a near-nationwide shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lewis said he wanted to “travel around America to support” Biden.
Speaking to reporters, Lewis emphasized the importance of voting—but expressed concern about the effects of the coronavirus crisis on a free and fair election, saying, “I just hope that, in spite of whatever is going on now, that people will not be afraid to come out and vote.”
“I know hatred when I see it. I have felt it. I’ve stared down the deepest and darkest forces in this nation,” Lewis says in a moving endorsement video. “Over the past four years, I’ve seen the same kind of evil rear its head again. You judge the character of a man by how he chooses to respond to that moral obligation.” Joe Biden, he goes on to say, “has never stopped speaking up for his fellow man. Joe Biden and I both believe that we are in a fight to redeem the soul of America. I know Joe Biden as a man of character and dignity. A man who cannot and will not rest when he sees injustice in our American home.”
Transcript:
The soul of America is the best of America. One of faith, one of hope, one of love, that respects the dignity and the worth of every human being. If you see something that is not right, you have a moral obligation to speak up.
I know hatred when I see it. I have felt it. I’ve stared down the deepest and darkest forces in this nation. Over the past four years, I’ve seen the same kind of evil rear its head again. You judge the character of a man by how he chooses to respond to that moral obligation.
Vice President Joe Biden has never stopped speaking up for his fellow man. Joe Biden and I both believe that we are in a fight to redeem the soul of America. I know Joe Biden as a man of character and dignity. A man who cannot and will not rest when he sees injustice in our American home.
Joe Biden has no delusion about this nation’s past, but he knows who we can be at our best. A nation of love, freedom, and equality, and I will fight with him for that future.