Biden brings George Floyd’s daughter on stage as he signs executive order on police reform

President Joe Biden on Wednesday brought George Floyd‘s 10-year-old daughter Gianna on stage with him when he signed a new executive order on policing.

‘You’re getting so big,’ he told her.

Biden previously met Gianna in June 2020, when he attended Floyd’s funeral in Houston, Texas. She was seven when her father was killed. 

The president recounted how she told him her father was ‘going to change the world.’ He had her sit down at the desk in the East Room where he signed the executive order. 

‘I promise the Floyd family among others, George’s name is not just going the be a hashtag. Their daddy’s name will be known a long time. As a nation, we’re going to ensure his legacy,’ Biden said in his remarks.

The signing ceremony was on the second anniversary of George Floyd‘s death. He died as a police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes while other officers watched on.

President Joe Biden brought George Floyd’s 10-year-old daughter Gianna on stage with him when he signed a new executive order on policing

President Joe Biden told Gianna Floyd: ‘You’re getting so big’

Rev. Al Sharpton and Attorney Ben Crump at the White House for Biden’s signing of a new executive order on police reform

George Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd (2nd from Right) and George Floyd’s daughter Gianna Floyd (Right) watch as President Joe Biden signs the order

Gianna also was at the White House last year to meet with Biden in the Oval Office on the one-year anniversary of her father’s death.

In his remarks on Wednesday,Biden called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The legislation aims to combat police misconduct, excessive force, and racial bias in policing. It has been passed by the House but is stalled in the Senate.

Biden said he remembered his promise during the 2020 presidential campaign to enact meaningful police reform. 

‘Why I haven’t done this executive order earlier? If I did it, I was worried I would undercut the effort to get the law passed,’ he said.

The order Biden signed contains new use-of-force rules for federal law enforcement and encourages local police departments to make similar changes. 

President Joe Biden hugs Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, after he signed the executive order

Vice President Kamala Harris talks with Gianna Floyd at the ceremony

Gianna Floyd was at the White House last year and pictured walking out of the West Wing

In addition to Floyd’s family, relatives of Breonna Taylor were in the East Room for the signing. Taylor was killed during a fast-entry police raid of her home in Louisville, Ky. 

Biden has been walking a tight rope on the issue of police reform. Progressives, in the wake of Floyd’s death and the nation-wide protests that sparked up around it, wanted to go stronger, including a tightened use-of-force option, which police chiefs objected to.

It was not included in the final version Biden signed Wednesday. 

The president also has been dealing with criticism from Republicans who have falsely accused him of defunding the police.  

The order requires federal agencies to update their use-of-force policy, restrict the flow of surplus military equipment to police departments and restrict federal funding to police departments that did not ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants. It directs all federal agencies to create a national registry to track officers who were fired for bad conduct.