President Biden took aim at former President Trump as his likely November opponent sat in a courtroom in New York City on Tuesday, criticizing the former president’s economic record and bids for a potential second term.
Biden delivered remarks in his former hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he argued that Trump’s economic vision would overwhelmingly favor the wealthiest Americans and businesses.
“When I look at the economy, I don’t see it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago. I see this through Scranton’s eyes, and that’s no exaggeration. That’s a fact,” Biden told supporters. “Where honesty and decency matter. Where faith matters. Where family is everything.”
Biden’s event was the first of a three-day trek through Pennsylvania, a key state the president won in 2020 by about 80,000 votes. He will also visit Pittsburgh on Wednesday and Philadelphia on Thursday.
As Biden travels through the Keystone State, Trump will be in court for a trial over an alleged secret payment he made to an adult film star during his 2016 campaign. The trial began this week and Trump is expected to be in court four days per week for several weeks.
Trump on Tuesday complained that the trial was keeping him out of the campaign.
“I should be right now in Pennsylvania, in Florida, in many other states, in North Carolina, in Georgia, campaigning,” Trump told reporters, claiming without evidence that the Biden White House was responsible for his judgments.
Biden made no mention of his opponent’s legal troubles during Tuesday’s speech, other than repeating a line mocking the former president’s mounting legal fees. Instead, Biden wanted to draw a contrast between his economic record and Trump’s plans for a second term.
“Guys, trickle-down economics has failed the middle class. It failed America,” he said. “And the truth is that Donald Trump embodies this failure. He wants to double the drip.
Biden also reiterated the main pillars of his economic agenda. He called for a tax increase on billionaires and promised not to raise taxes on Americans who earn less than $400,000 annually. And Biden touted his efforts to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and reduce prescription drug costs.
Trump’s proposals for a second term include implementing a tariff on all imports, which some experts have warned could worsen inflation, as well as reciprocal tariffs on any country that imposes tariffs on U.S. goods.
Trump and Republicans also signaled they would take steps to make tax cuts approved during his first term permanent. And the former president said he would look to increase drilling in the U.S. even though oil production is down. historic highs under Biden.
The economy has been an area where Biden has at times struggled to sell voters on his agenda.
A New York Times/Siena College poll published last Saturday found that Biden nearly erased Trump’s lead among registered voters nationally – but his management of the economy remains a potential problem in November.
The poll found that 64 percent of voters approved of Trump’s handling of the economy during his first term, compared with 63 percent who disapproved of Biden’s handling of the economy. The poll found that 85 percent of young voters described the economy as weak or fair.
Inflation has been a particularly persistent problem for Biden, even as unemployment remains low and consumer confidence has recovered from the coronavirus pandemic.
The consumer price index (CPI), a popular measure of inflation, rose 0.4% last month and 3.5% annually, largely in line with economists’ projections. Although inflation has declined significantly since June 2022 – when it peaked at 9.1%, the highest in the last 40 years – the Federal Reserve has been hesitant to declare victory and start cutting interest rates.
“As Joe Biden visits the Keystone State today, Pennsylvanians are fighting for Bidenomics,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement. “Pennsylvania families are suffering from historic inflation, unaffordable gas prices and record housing costs.”
“It’s no wonder Pennsylvanians will vote to make America affordable again and elect President Trump in November,” he added.
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