Joe Biden slams Donald Trump for 'narcissism' after tear-gassing protesters for a photo op and tells him to 'open a Bible' as Democrat promises to 'seek to heal the racial wounds' as he visits protest-hit Philadelphia

Joe Biden slammed President Donald Trump for his racist rhetoric, 'narcissism' and his Monday night stunt that left protesters tear-gassed in front of the White House so the president could hold a photo-op. 

He also suggested that Trump open a Bible 'instead of brandishing it,' as the president did outside St. John's Church in Washington, after those peaceful protesters had been removed. The presumptive Democratic nominee recommended the president read the Constitution, particularly the First Amendment, too. 

'I will seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued this country – not use them for political gain,' the ex-vice president pledged.  

Biden spoke at Philadelphia's City Hall Tuesday - his first major address after the coronavirus pandemic left him broadcasting from his basement due to Delaware's stay-at-home order since mid-March. 

Biden began by quoting the words of George Floyd, the Minneapolis black man whose Memorial Day death at the hands of a white cop have inspired days of protests, with some turning to riots - including in Philadelphia, where Biden's presidential campaign is based. 

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Joe Biden gave his first major address since the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday at Philadelphia's City Hall where he criticized President Trump for his racist rhetoric, narcissism and tear-gassing protesters in front of the White House Monday night 

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Presumptive Democratic nominee takes off his mask before beginning remarks on Tuesday. He spoke of both the racial strife in the United States and about the 100,000-plus coronavirus dead 

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Joe Biden gave his address in an ornate room at Philadelphia's City Hall, his first major campaign stop since mid-March, after the coronavirus pandemic left him campaigning from his Delaware basement  

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Protesters were tear-gassed in front of the White House Monday evening, before Washington, D.C.'s curfew started, so President Trump could walk across Lafayette Park and pose for photos in front of St. John's Church 

'I can't breathe. I can't breathe,' Biden said. 'George Floyd's last words. But they didn't die with him. They're still being heard. They're echoing across this nation.' 

He used the phrase to connect the two concurring national tragedies: racism and the continued spread of COVID-19.  

'They speak to a nation where too often just the color of your skin puts your life at risk,' the former vice president said. 'They speak to a nation where more than 100,000 people have lost their lives to a virus and 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment - with a disproportionate number of these deaths and job losses concentrated in the black and minority communities.'  

'And they speak to a nation where every day millions of people – not at the moment of losing their life – but in the course of living their life – are saying to themselves, "I can’t breathe,"' Biden continued. 

Biden called the events of the past few days a 'wake up call' and reminded his small audience of elected officials and reporters in masks that they were the same words of Eric Garner, the New York City black man who also had his life choked out by police. 

'It is time to listen to those words,' he said. 

Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said 'the country is crying out for leadership.' 

'Leadership that can unite us. Leadership that can bring us together. Leadership that can recognize the pain and deep grief of communities that have had a knee on their neck for too long,' he said.  

Biden went on to condemn both the looting and destruction of property that's come as part of the unrest - and racist policing, pitching a number of remedies that could help root out problem officers, while noting that most do a good job. 

'All the more reason why bad cops should be dealt with severely and swiftly,' Biden offered. 

But then Biden turned to Trump's actions, especially those in the last 24 hours. 

'When peaceful protestors dispersed in order for a president, a president, from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House - using tear gas and flash grenades - in order to stage a photo op, a photo op, at one of the most historic churches in the country, or at least in Washington, D.C., we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle,' Biden said. 

'More interested in serving the passions of his base than the needs of the people in his care,' Biden said.  

'For that’s what the presidency is,' Biden pointed out. 'The duty to care. To care for all of us, not just those who vote for us, but all of us. Not just our donors, but all of us.'  

During Trump's trek, he walked across Lafayette Park with a pack of government officials, and stood in front of St. John's Church, holding a Bible aloft. 

'I just wish he opened it once in awhile, instead of brandishing it. If he opened it he could have learned something: That we are all called to love one another as we love ourselves,' Biden said. 

'That’s hard work. But it’s the work of America,' Biden said, adding that Trump 'isn't interested in doing that work.'  

Biden also recommended that the president read the Constitution, particularly the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of assembly.  

'Mr. President: That is America,' Biden said. 'Not horses rising up on their hind legs to push back a peaceful protest. Not using the American military to move against the American people.'  

At another moment, the ex-vice president commented that Trump's 'narcissism has become more important than the nation he leads.' 

'A president of the United States must be part of the solution, not the problem. But our president today is part of the problem,' Biden said.  

The Democrat pointed to tweets Trump sent out Friday that read, 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts.' 

'Those weren't the words of a president. They were the words of a racist Miami police chief from the 1960s.'   

Biden asked Americans if this was what they wanted in a leader. 

'Is this who we are? Is this who we want to be? Fear? Anger? Finger-pointing? Rather than the pursuit of happiness,' Biden asked. 

He called the presidency a 'very big job' and said he wouldn't always get it right.  

'I’ll do my job and take responsibility. I won’t blame others. I’ll never forget that the job isn’t about me,' he pledged. 'It’s about you. And I’ll work to not only rebuild this nation. But to build it better than it was.'