Thursday, 25 Apr 2024

Joe Biden makes his presidential pitch at Iowa State Fair

Joe Biden was among the first of more than 20 presidential candidates to drop by the Iowa State Fair on Thursday in hopes of wooing voters in the Hawkeye State.

Within the first 10 minutes of his arrival, Biden grabbed an ice-cream bar to munch on as he greeted residents.

He shared a handshake and an embrace with Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who also attended the annual fair as a Democratic presidential hopeful.

The former vice president — who is still the leading candidate among Democratic Iowa voters, according to a new poll — took a turn on the fair’s so-called political soapbox, telling the crowd that he wants to “restore the backbone of this country.”

“The middle class built this country — Wall Street did not build this country,” he said, as the audience cheered and fanned themselves under the hot Midwest sun.

Later, when asked by a reporter whether he believed President Trump was a white supremacist, Biden said Trump is trying to “curry favor” with the hate group.

“I believe everything the president says encourages white supremacists and I’m not sure there’s much of a distinction,” said Biden. “As a matter of fact, it may be even worse.”

That may have fed into a heated exchange after his speech with a reporter who accused Biden of misquoting Trump on the Charlottesville tragedy in a campaign speech the day before.

“Let’s get this straight — he said there are ‘very fine people’ in both groups, they’re chanting anti-Semitic slogans,” Biden said, wagging his finger at the reporter before walking away, according to a video posted on Twitter.

In his speech, Biden referred to Trump’s remarks about “very fine people on both sides” in a press conference following the deadly white supremacist rally and counter-protest in Virginia in 2017.

Biden went so far as to accuse Trump’s words of being the inspiration behind the mass shooting in Texas, CBS News reported.

“How far is it from Trump’s saying this ‘Is an invasion’ to the shooter in El Paso declaring quote, ‘This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas?’” Biden asked the crowd on Wednesday. “How far is it from white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville — Trump’s ‘very fine people’ – chanting ‘you will replace us’ to the shooter at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh saying Jews are ‘committing genocide’ on his people. I don’t think it’s that far at all.”

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