Biden Uses Union Pulpit To Bash Trump, Promote American Manufacturing

Photo: From Joe Biden’s YouTube feed

The Center Square [By Bruce Walker] –

Former Vice President and current presidential candidate Joe Biden sprinted to a podium in Warren Wednesday afternoon to the strains of Bruce Springsteen’s late-career anthem “We Take Care of Our Own.”

Biden made the campaign stop at the home base of the United Auto Workers Region 1 to deliver a message about his plans to reinvigorate the U.S. economy in general and the Michigan automotive industry specifically. He was also unsparing in his comments about the man he seeks to unseat from the presidency in November.

Biden repeated the recent claims that President Donald Trump insulted fallen World War II soldiers as “losers and suckers,” as published last week by the Atlantic magazine quoting anonymous sources. The Trump administration says the story isn’t true.

Biden additionally mentioned a report from the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward claiming Trump told the reporter the president knew about the severity of the COVID-19 virus on Feb. 7 – weeks prior to informing the public in order to, according to Woodward, prevent a panic.

“He had the information,” Biden told his Warren audience. “He knew how dangerous it was. And while this deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job on purpose. It was a life-and-death betrayal of the American people.”

Biden continued: “It’s beyond despicable. It’s a dereliction of duty. It’s a disgrace.”

Turning his attention to the economy, Biden said he plans to penalize companies that move overseas and sell manufactured goods back to U.S. customers. He noted he would impose 100 percent U.S. taxes on those goods with an additional 10 percent penalty as well as eliminate corporate deductions for moving their operations offshore.

“I’m not looking to punish businesses,” he said.

The rate of off-shoring conducted by federal contractors has doubled under Trump, Biden asserted, sending more than 7,000 American jobs overseas.

Biden also claimed the 2017 tax reform measure signed by Trump was a “corporate tax giveaway,” which contributed to an all-time high U.S. trade deficit.

In one of his speeches several apparent flubs, Biden claimed Trump was endeavoring to “do away with all health care in the U.S. He also proclaimed Michigan’s automotive industry has lost 20,000 jobs during Trump’s first term yet gained 80,000 automotive jobs during the two terms Biden served as vice president under Barack Obama.

Biden also pledged to create 1 million American jobs by converting all government-owned vehicles to run on electricity, as well as promised his administration would push for building an additional 500,000 charging stations for electric vehicles.