Pennsylvania —Scranton On Tuesday, President Joe Biden returned to his childhood home in working-class Scranton to launch three days of campaigning across Pennsylvania, asking for more taxes on the rich and labeling Donald Trump an out-of-touch elitist.
When not trying to quell his Republican predecessor's populist return, the Democratic president seemed to enjoy his stroll down memory lane. In his childhood house, an American flag waved softly in the wind on the front porch as neighbors filled the walkway under flowering trees and a pale blue sky. He stayed longer than expected. Later, in the backyard, the president took photos with school-aged youngsters.
Trump spends the week in a New York City courtroom for his first criminal trial while Biden seeks ground in a vital swing state. Biden began his trip in Scranton, which is included in his political memoirs, and traveled to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on Wednesday and Thursday.
Biden used the city of 75,000 on Tuesday to reframe the economy, which has left many Americans feeling sour about their finances despite low unemployment due to relentless inflation and high interest rates. The president said he intended to make the tax code fairer to keep more money in Americans' pockets, slamming Trump, a businessman, as a tool of affluent interests.
I don't see the economy through Mar-a-Lago's eyes. Biden compared his hometown of Scranton to Trump's Florida estate. Biden proposes a 25% minimum tax for billionaires. Taxes are “how we invest in the country.”
Scranton values or Mar-a-Lago values,” Biden added. “These competing visions for our economy raise questions of fundamental fairness at the heart of this campaign.” At a community center, he spoke on a stage with a “Tax Fairness for All Americans” sign.
The president claimed decades of Republican tax cuts for the affluent to boost the economy “failed America, and Donald Trump embodies that failure.” He joked that Trump's history taught him just “the best way to get rich is to inherit it,” and he criticized Truth Social's steep market decline.
“If Trump’s stock in Truth Social, his company, drops any lower, he might do better under my tax plan than his,” Biden joked. In his trip statement, Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley criticized Biden for inflation.
“It’s no wonder Pennsylvanians will vote to make America affordable again and elect President Trump in November,” he stated. Biden slammed Trump for calling military veterans “suckers and losers” at the end of his address. The statements, which Trump denies, were “disqualifying,” he claimed. “Thank God I wasn’t standing next to him.”
Later that day, Biden told grassroots organizers at a union hall training session, “We have to win. It's traditional politics. Knocking on doors.” The repeated stops paid tribute to Biden's hometown, where people cheered his motorcade. Few protests against Biden's backing for Israel's Gaza operations and few Trump flags were seen.
Joe Biden has never forgotten where he’s from,” Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti said before Biden’s community center speech. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro added, “This is a guy who has never forgotten the people he grew up with.” “They’re the people on his mind, and they’re the people in his heart,” Shapiro added. Before Biden spoke at the community center, the crowd yelled “four more years”. Biden laughed, “I think I should go home now.” But he quickly added, “except I am already home.”
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