Biden attends first rally of his 2024 re-election campaign trends now
President Joe Biden finally hit the road to deliver a campaign-style speech in a battleground state after launching his reelection in April.
Biden visited Philadelphia, near where he grew up, to tout his agenda and new labor endorsements at a labor rally in a state that was key to his 2020 win.
The 80 year-old president raced through remarks, railed against billionaires, and joked with the crowd as he hammered home his economic message to a crowd of about 2,000 members.
'I'm more honored by your endorsement than you can imagine,' Biden told a crowd of about 200 members of organized labor, most decked out in T-shirts with their union names, a day after the AFL-CIO endorsed his reelection campaign.
With polls showing Biden with low popularity, the president is firing up his base by touting infrastructure projects and exports.
President Joe Biden finally hit the road to deliver a campaign-style speech
Biden visited Philadelphia, near where he grew up, to tout his agenda and new labor endorsements at a labor rally in a state that was key to his 2020 win
'We've got a fight on our hands. And my question to you is simple: are you with me in this fight,' he said, to cheers of 'We love Joe!' from the union crowd.
He blasted Republican economic and budget plans throughout his remarks.
Biden told his labor troops, who he credits with bringing him to the White House: 'I need you badly. Are you with me?' he asked.
Biden repeated his vow to hike taxes on billionaires and not raise taxes on families earning less than $400,000 per year, after pointing to their growth in number from 750 to 1,000 'because of the last administration.
'Guess what. They're coming for your jobs. They're coming for your future,' he said.
One pro-Biden heckler yelled out: 'What do you pay, Joe?'
'I pay a hell of lot more than that man,' he joked.
'It's about time the super-wealthy pay their fair share,' he intoned, where the president seemed determined to move swiftly through his remarks without some of the trailing anecdotes that sometimes get him in hot water.
The event – organized by unions who endorsed Biden – brought him onto a stage outside of Washington while Republicans are already campaigning in early voting states.
