Rivera replied that the Delaware Democrat sounded unremarkable and that the programs he laid out left much to be desired:
"Compassion aside, where was the passion? That speech was as laid back as the program he is proposing," said Rivera.
The longtime journalist, who has reported on violent crime and other major issues throughout his career, said that Biden's allocation of resources toward summertime social programs for urban and endangered youth and stemming illegal firearm sales will not go far toward solving the problem.
"This is the civil rights issue of our time, murder has become the leading cause of death, if this is not an emergency, what is it?" he later asked.
"In Chicago [there were] 8 people killed, 54 people shot last weekend – that is an emergency – that is something that needs action right now."
Rivera said that Biden should – instead of expending $360 billion in taxpayer resources on summertime programs -- direct that funding to Chicago police to engage in "stop-and-frisk" crime prevention techniques like those instituted in New York by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and NYPD Commissioners Bill Bratton and Raymond Kelly.