President Joe Biden begun three days of campaigning in Pennsylvania while returning to his childhood home in Scranton on Tuesday where he called for higher taxes on the rich and casting Donald Trump as an elitist.
Mr Biden is looking to gain ground in a key battleground state while Mr Trump spends much of the week in a New York City courtroom for his first criminal trial.
Mr Biden heads to Pittsburgh on Wednesday and Philadelphia on Thursday, but he started his travels in Scranton, which has long played a starring role in his political autobiography.
The president said he wanted to make the tax code fairer, keeping more money in Americans’ pockets, while criticising Mr Trump, a billionaire himself, as a tool of wealthy interests.
“When I look at the economy, I don’t look at it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago. I look at it through the eyes of Scranton,” Mr Biden said, contrasting his hometown with the Florida estate where Mr Trump lives.
Mr Biden has proposed a 25% percent minimum tax rate for billionaires. He added that taxes are “how we invest in the country.”
“Scranton values or Mar-a-Lago values,” Mr Biden said. “These are the competing visions for our economy that raise questions of fundamental fairness at the heart of this campaign.”
The president said decades of Republicans policies that cut taxes for the wealthy with the idea of stimulating the economy “failed America, and Donald Trump embodies that failure.”
He scoffed that Mr Trump’s background taught him little more than “the best way to get rich is to inherit it,” and he jabbed at the sharp fall in market value of the former president’s social media platform, Truth Social.
Former president Donald Trump, talks to members of the media in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)
“If Trump’s stock in Truth Social, his company, drops any lower, he might do better under my tax plan than his,” Mr Biden quipped.
Michael Whatley, chair of the Republican National Committee, blamed Mr Biden for inflation in a statement about his trip.
“It’s no wonder why Pennsylvanians will vote to make America affordable again and elect president Trump in November,” he said.
Near the end of Mr Biden’s speech, he sharply criticised Mr Trump for reportedly calling veterans who died in combat “suckers and losers.”
He said the comments, which Mr Trump has denied, were “disqualifying,” adding, “Thank God I wasn’t standing next to him.”
President Joe Biden walks out of his childhood home in Scranton (Alex Brandon/PA)
Later in the day, Mr Biden spoke at a training session for grassroots organisers at a union hall, telling attendees: “We have to win. It gets down to old-fashioned politics. It gets down to knocking on doors.”
When Mr Biden took the stage at the community centre, the crowd chanted “Four more years” before he started speaking. Mr Biden smiled and joked, “I think I should go home now.” Then he quickly added, “except I am already home.”
As president, Mr Trump signed into law in 2017 a series of tax breaks that disproportionately benefit the rich. Many of the cuts expire at the end of 2025, and Mr Biden wants to keep a majority of them to fulfil his promise that no one earning less than 400,000 million dollars (£320,000) will pay more taxes.
However, he also wants to raise 4.9 trillion dollars (£3.9 trillion) in revenue over 10 years with higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations. His platform includes a “billionaire’s tax,” which would set a minimum rate of 25% on the income of the richest Americans.
Mr Biden’s Pennsylvania swing overlaps with the start of Mr Trump’s first criminal trial, presenting an opportunity and a challenge for Democrats.
Mr Biden did not mention Mr Trump’s legal problems. Instead, he told the community centre crowd that he learned in Scranton that “money doesn’t determine your worth.”
News Related
-
Asylum seekers travel in an inflatable boat across the English Channel, bound for Dover on the south coast of England (Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP) Up to 40 Conservative MPs are poised to rebel over Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation policy as they question ministers’ commitment to the scheme. A major row is ...
See Details:
Up to 40 Tory MPs ‘set to rebel’ if Sunak’s Rwanda plan doesn’t override ECHR
-
In the saltmarsh fringing where the Ballyboe River dissolves into Trawbreaga Bay, a little egret wears its plumage like a windblown stole. Our car swoops across the 10 arches of Malin bridge and we park along the village green. Malin is almost as far north as you can get on ...
See Details:
Country diary: A tale of three churches
-
Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/EPA Hampton Court is an enduring monument to the power of Henry VIII, a pleasure palace down the Thames from Westminster and the City of London. On Monday it was the scene of power projection of a different kind, as Rishi Sunak pitched for investment from some of ...
See Details:
Sunak woos business elite with royal welcome – but they seek certainty
-
-
Tottenham interested in move to sign “fearless” £20m defender in January Tottenham Hotspur have joined the race to bring an overseas defender to the Premier League in January, according to a fresh report. Postecoglou’s centre-back options The Lilywhites currently have Micky Van De Ven, Ashley Phillips, Cristian Romero and Eric ...
See Details:
Tottenham interested in move to sign “fearless” £20m defender in January
-
A £100m campaign urging households and businesses to use less water will be funded from customers’ bills, Ofwat has said. Bill payers to stump up cost of £100m water usage campaign The regulator’s chief executive David Black told MPs that if the measures worked it would be cheaper than building ...
See Details:
Bill payers to stump up cost of £100m water usage campaign
-
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football – FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 – Group B – Canada Training – Olympic Park, Melbourne, Australia – July 24, 2023 Canada’s Christine Sinclair during training REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo (Reuters) – BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, will be renamed “Christine Sinclair ...
See Details:
Soccer-Venue renamed 'Christine Sinclair Place' for Canada soccer great's final game
-
Michael van Gerwen is hunting down a fourth World Championship title (Picture: Getty Images) Michael van Gerwen is Phil Taylor’s tip to lift the World Darts Championship trophy for a fourth time in January, expecting a backlash from the recent defeat in the Players Championship Finals. The 2024 World Championship ...
See Details:
Phil Taylor makes his pick for 2024 World Darts Championship winner
-
Michael van Gerwen is hunting down a fourth World Championship title (Picture: Getty Images) Michael van Gerwen is Phil Taylor’s tip to lift the World Darts Championship trophy for a fourth time in January, expecting a backlash from the recent defeat in the Players Championship Finals. The 2024 World Championship ...
See Details:
Soccer-Howe aims to boost Newcastle's momentum in PSG clash
-
Michael van Gerwen is hunting down a fourth World Championship title (Picture: Getty Images) Michael van Gerwen is Phil Taylor’s tip to lift the World Darts Championship trophy for a fourth time in January, expecting a backlash from the recent defeat in the Players Championship Finals. The 2024 World Championship ...
See Details:
Hamilton heads for hibernation with a word of warning
-
Michael van Gerwen is hunting down a fourth World Championship title (Picture: Getty Images) Michael van Gerwen is Phil Taylor’s tip to lift the World Darts Championship trophy for a fourth time in January, expecting a backlash from the recent defeat in the Players Championship Finals. The 2024 World Championship ...
See Details:
Carolina Panthers fire head coach Frank Reich after 1-10 start to the season
-
Michael van Gerwen is hunting down a fourth World Championship title (Picture: Getty Images) Michael van Gerwen is Phil Taylor’s tip to lift the World Darts Championship trophy for a fourth time in January, expecting a backlash from the recent defeat in the Players Championship Finals. The 2024 World Championship ...
See Details:
This exercise is critical for golfers. 4 tips to doing it right
-
Michael van Gerwen is hunting down a fourth World Championship title (Picture: Getty Images) Michael van Gerwen is Phil Taylor’s tip to lift the World Darts Championship trophy for a fourth time in January, expecting a backlash from the recent defeat in the Players Championship Finals. The 2024 World Championship ...
See Details:
One in three households with children 'will struggle to afford Christmas'
-
OTHER NEWS
Kobbie Mainoo made his first start for Man Utd at Everton (Photo: Getty) The Football Association are reportedly confident that Manchester United starlet Kobbie Mainoo will choose to represent England ...
Read more »
Michael Smith will begin the defence of his world title on the opening night (Picture: Getty Images) The 2024 World Darts Championship is less than three weeks away and the ...
Read more »
For the first time a long haul commercial aircraft is flying across the Atlantic using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). A long haul commercial flight is flying to the US ...
Read more »
The King has met business and finance leaders from across the world at a Buckingham Palace reception to mark the conclusion of the UK’s Global Investment Summit. Charles was introduced ...
Read more »
After Ohio State’s 30-24 loss to Michigan Saturday, many college football fans were wondering where Lou Holtz was. In his postgame interview after the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame 17-14 in ...
Read more »
Darius Slay wouldn’t have minded being penalized on controversial no-call No matter which team you were rooting for on Sunday, we can all agree that the officiating job performed by ...
Read more »
New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (10) Quarterback Mac Jones remains committed to finding success with the New England Patriots even though his future is up in the air following ...
Read more »