Former Vice President Joe Biden is hitting back at President Donald Trump for comments questioning his commitment to Pennsylvania. Biden was born in Scranton before moving with his family to Delaware as a child.
Biden kicked off his campaign in Pittsburgh three weeks ago, and last weekend held a Philadelphia rally to play up his blue collar narrative and Pennsylvania roots. Pennsylvania was one of three upper midwest states Trump flipped in 2016 from blue to red to win the presidency, and Democrats hope a candidate like Biden could win back those states.
An early leader in most 2020 Democratic presidential primary polls, Biden took to Twitter to fire back that Trump “doesn’t understand the struggles working folks go through.”
Trump doesn’t understand the struggles working folks go through. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to worry you will lose the roof over your head. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to wonder if you’ll be able to put food on the table.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 21, 2019
My dad had to make that walk in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized how hard it must have been for him.
But he was not alone. This story isn’t unique to the Bidens. Too many people around this country have had to make that walk.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 21, 2019
A recent Quinnipiac University poll had Biden up 53-42 on Trump in a hypothetical matchup.
The comments did not address Biden’s record on trade deals, which Trump repeatedly hammered at a campaign stop outside of Williamsport in Lycoming County.
Trump criticized Biden for supporting NAFTA, while claiming that Biden “left you for another state, and he didn’t take care of you because he didn’t take care of your jobs. He let other countries come in and rip off America.”
The visit came ahead of a Congressional special election in north-central PA that Republican Fred Keller handily won.
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