Biden attends first rally of his 2024 re-election campaign

President Joe Biden finally hit the road to deliver a campaign-style speech in a battleground state after launching his re-election bid in April.

Biden traveled to Philadelphia, near where he grew up, to tout his agenda and his new labor endorsements at a labor rally in a state that was key to his victory in 2020.

The 80-year-old president made remarks, railed against billionaires and joked with the crowd as he hammered home his economic message to a crowd of around 2,000.

“I’m more honored by your endorsement than you can imagine,” Biden told a crowd of about 200 organized labor members, most dressed in T-shirts with their union names, a day after the AFL-CIO has approved his re-election campaign. .

While polls show Biden unpopular, the president is energizing his base by touting infrastructure projects and exports.

Biden traveled to Philadelphia, near where he grew up, to tout his agenda and new union endorsements at a union rally in a state that was key to his 2020 victory

“We have a fight on our hands. And my question for you is simple: are you with me in this fight,” he said, to cheers of, “We love Joe! of the union mass.

He lambasted Republican economic and fiscal plans throughout his address.

Biden told his labor troops, whom he credits with getting him to the White House, “I really need you. Are you with me?’ He asked.

Biden reiterated his vow to raise taxes on billionaires and not raise taxes on families earning less than $400,000 a year, after pointing to their growth in numbers from 750 to 1,000 because of the last administration.

‘Guess what. They come for your work. They come for your future,” he said.

A pro-Biden heckler shouted: ‘What are you paying, Joe?’

“I pay a lot more than this man,” he joked.

“It’s time for the super-rich to pay their fair share,” he intoned, where the president seemed determined to get through his remarks quickly without some of the dragging anecdotes that sometimes land him in hot water.

The event – organized by unions that have backed Biden – brought him to a stage outside Washington as Republicans are already campaigning in early voting states.

Biden reiterated his vow to raise taxes on billionaires and not raise taxes on families earning less than $400,000 a year

‘It’s time for the super-rich to pay their fair share,’ Biden told crowd

The president energizes his base by touting infrastructure projects and exports

But a White House official told DailyMail.com that Biden would continue to focus on serving as president and pointed out that Barack Obama only staged his first re-election campaign in 2012 after announcing it in 2011 .

It won’t be until later this summer that Biden’s campaign will likely settle in Wilmington.

But a Biden campaign official attended the event, and it was the campaign — not the White House — sending background information about Biden’s pro-labor policies.

It comes after Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman stumbled over his words, mispronouncing ‘infrastructure’ and ‘delegation’, while addressing the media earlier on Saturday after appearing in a hoodie and shorts to visit the collapsed I-95 bridge with President Biden.

Fetterman, who continues to recover from a stroke, was criticized earlier in the day for his choice of casual attire while his fellow Democratic politicians were all smartly dressed in suits.

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman stumbled over his words, mispronouncing “infrastructure” and “delegation” as he spoke to the media on Saturday after showing up in a hoodie and shorts to tour the I-Bridge 95 collapsed with President Biden

Fetterman was slapped for wearing his trademark shorts and hoodie to meet a smartly dressed President Biden on Saturday, as the two lawmakers toured a collapsed highway in Philadelphia

The politicians were all dressed in suits except for Fetterman who was dressed casually in shorts and a hoodie. His appearance drew heavy criticism online with one person tweeting that Fetterman ‘showed up ready for a game of hoops’

In his remarks to the media, Fetterman said Biden “is here to commit to working with the governor and the ‘delegation’ to make sure we fix this quickly, quickly too.” This is a president who is committed to ‘infrastructure’, yeah, and then on top of that, the kind of gem of an ‘offence’ law.

Biden — no stranger to verbal gaffes — nodded politely as Fetterman stumbled over his speech.

It comes just days after the embattled senator sparked health concerns during a Senate Environment Committee hearing on Wednesday when he stumbled over his remarks about the I-95 bridge collapse.

The stretch of the main east coast north-south highway collapsed last Sunday after a tractor-trailer carrying gasoline overturned on an exit ramp and caught fire. State transportation officials said the driver was trying to navigate a curve and lost control.