“He’s serious about what he says. If you doubt me, just think back to January 6th,” Biden remarked, alluding to the Capitol insurrection.
But chaos was not unfamiliar during Trump's presidency,” Biden continued in a 16-minute speech to nearly 80 attendees at the Palmer House hotel in Chicago. “Trump is attempting to erase the memory of the disturbing events that occurred during his tenure. Well, we won’t allow him to forget.”
Chicago, where Biden is expected to be officially nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in August, has become a reliable source of funds for Biden’s campaign. Vice President Kamala Harris is also scheduled to speak at a Chicago-area fundraising event on May 16. The amount raised on Wednesday has not been disclosed yet. During his visit on March 8, Biden raised an estimated $2.5 million.
In his speech, Biden portrayed the U.S. as a country that has significantly progressed since Trump's administration, which downplayed the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic and suggested unproven treatments like injecting bleach.
“He didn’t inject bleach into his body. He put it in his hair,” Biden joked. “I don’t think anyone wants to go back to that. We must remember and remind others of what happened.”
Biden also criticized Trump for urging congressional Republicans to reject a Democratic-backed immigration reform plan to keep the issue alive for the November election.
“I proposed the most comprehensive immigration reform in decades. Trump claims that immigrants are contaminating Americans’ blood. Well, I wonder how many of us would be here if our ancestors had been considered contaminants?” the president pondered. He emphasized that the real threat is not criminals crossing the border, but Trump and his threat to democracy.
Outside the Palmer House, a group of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked State Street at Monroe Street, using a bullhorn to criticize Biden and U.S. policies supporting Israel.
The protest, coupled with road closures in the Loop around the hotel for presidential security, caused gridlock in downtown rush-hour traffic at many intersections.
During his brief address, Biden did not mention the Israel-Hamas conflict. However, in an interview with CNN before his arrival in Chicago, he stated that he had informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that U.S. shipments of certain heavy weapons would cease if the Israeli military invaded Rafah in the Gaza Strip, where over a million Palestinians have sought refuge.
Biden’s fundraising efforts in Chicago marked the beginning of three days of presidential travel. He will also attend a series of campaign events on the West Coast, including fundraising receptions in the San Francisco area on Friday and in Seattle later Friday and on Saturday.
Biden’s visit to Chicago followed a trip to Racine County in Wisconsin, a critical swing state, where he praised investments in high-tech manufacturing in a city once emblematic of a declining industrial region.
At Gateway Technical College, Biden hailed Racine as a “great comeback story,” applauding Microsoft’s $3.3 billion investment in a new artificial intelligence datacenter that is expected to create 2,300 union construction jobs and eventually 2,000 permanent jobs.
The location of the AI facility also provided Biden an opportunity to criticize Trump. The land for the data center is part of the site where Trump, six years ago, lauded the promise of Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn to invest $10 billion in an LCD screen production facility that would create 13,000 jobs, with $500 million in public funds used as an incentive.
However, after homes and farms were demolished for the production facility, Foxconn abandoned its plans for screen manufacturing at the site, resulting in few jobs being created.
“He came here with your senator, Ron Johnson, holding a golden shovel, promising to build the eighth wonder of the world. Are you kidding me?” Biden exclaimed to the crowd. “Look at what happened. They dug a hole with those golden shovels, and then they fell into it.”
In contrast, Biden stated, “Under my leadership, we make promises and we keep them. We do not leave anyone behind.”
Biden’s remarks came as new polls indicated that the president continues to struggle to sell his domestic policy and economic initiatives as accomplishments to voters.
Despite promoting “Bidenomics,” voters remain concerned about inflationary pressures.
“We’re following the proven methods in this country,” he explained, outlining the principles of “Bidenomics”: giving everyone a fair chance, not leaving anyone behind, and growing the economy from the middle and bottom, not the top.