Biden warns of 'dark days' under Trump

Source: Politico

07/31/2025 10:48 PM EDT


CHICAGO — Former President Joe Biden expressed alarm Thursday about attacks on the rule of law and threats to civil rights under President Donald Trump in some of his most pointed criticism about the new administration since leaving office.

Biden, speaking to the National Bar Association in Chicago, did not mention Trump by name but his intended target was clear during remarks that only ran about 20 minutes.

“You can’t sugarcoat it. These are dark days,” Biden told the crowd of nearly 1,100 members of the predominantly Black legal organization.

The remarks echoed, at least in tone, some of his previous comments about Trump, portraying him as a threat to democracy and the rule of law. “We are, in my view, at such a moment in American history, reflected in every cruel executive outreach, every rollback of basic freedoms, every erosion of long-standing, established precedent,” he said.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/31/biden-warns-of-dark-days-under-trump-00488159

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As a note, the National Bar Association is celebrating a 100th anniversary this year (and today was the founding date), and was established to support the needs of black lawyers and judges during a time when many were being intentionally denied membership in the American Bar Association due to their racist policies.