For the first time, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemned Donald Trump’s decision to send unidentified paramilitary federal agents into Portland Ore to take on the Black Lives Matter protesters in that city.

And, despite accumulating a reputation as a moderate over decades of service in Washington DC, Biden pledged to serve as the “most progressive president in American history.”

Trump had ordered agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) into Portland, where they were snatching protesters off the street into unmarked vans.

Although the Trump administration announced Wednesday that they would be pulling the agents from Portland, there was also word that similar deployments would be made in three other US cities.

“When President Obama and I were in office, we protected federal property. We were able to do it without the Department of Homeland Security turning it into a private militia. And it could be done today, but that wouldn’t help Trump’s political interest,” Biden said Tuesday. “He’s determined to stoke division and chaos. It’s not good for the country. But Donald Trump doesn’t care.

“His campaign is failing and he’s looking for a political lifeline. This isn’t about law and order, it’s about a political strategy to revive a failing campaign,” Biden added.

Despite consistently maintaining big leads over Trump in opinion polling over the course of the race, some on the Democratic left have groused about a lack of enthusiasm for voting for Biden after he has built a reputation for centrism over decades as a senator from Delaware before becoming vice president.

“And lastly, I think that notwithstanding the fact I think I have laid out the most detailed plans on the economy and on issues related to health care and the rest of any president in modern history. I mean, if I’m elected and this passes, I’m going to go down as the most progressive president in American history,” he said.

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