After repeatedly referring to him as his “predecessor” during his 2024 State of the Union address, President Joe Biden did not hesitate to say former President Donald Trump‘s name during his first post-address stop on what is now the general election campaign trail.
Biden also mentioned another Republican, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who interrupted his prime-time speech, before the president defended Bidenomics and underscored how he would, among other promises, protect abortion access if he has a second term.
“If you’re tired, you probably watched my address last night,” Biden told a crowd Friday at a Philadelphia-area middle school. “I got my usual warm reception from congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
Biden, too, criticized Trump for meeting Friday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, expressing disappointment in a political moment where “you ride down the street, there’s a Trump banner with an ‘F U’ on it and a 6-year-old kid putting up his middle finger.”
“[Trump] thinks [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is a strong, basically a decent guy,” Biden said. “You know who he’s meeting with today, down in Mar-a-Lago? Orban of Hungary, who stated flatly he doesn’t think democracy works; he’s looking for dictatorship. Only member of NATO. That’s who he’s meeting with.”
Biden was greeted outside Strath Haven Middle School in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, by hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters shouting, “Shame on you!” Meanwhile, inside, supporters of the president countered with, “Four more years!”
Biden’s choice of Pennsylvania for his first post-State of the Union stop is no coincidence, as Biden’s victory in this swing state is key to whether he stays four more years in the White House. Once part of the Democrats’ blue wall, it swung to Trump in 2016 and then back to Biden in 2020. As president, Biden has spent more time in Pennsylvania than in any other state outside of Delaware, his residence.
Earlier, Biden told reporters after a personal visit in nearby Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, that “it’s looking tough” for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas before Ramadan.
The president was introduced at the campaign event by first lady Jill Biden, who, as a Philadelphia area native, referenced the retirement this week of Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
“Last night, Joe showed the world what I see every day,” the first lady said of her husband’s State of the Union. “It’s what drew me to him when we first met, I think, honest to God, Joe, 50 years ago.”
“Donald Trump is dangerous to women, and to our families, and to our country, and we can’t let him win,” she added. “We can’t wake up the day after the election like we did in 2016, terrified of the future ahead of us thinking, ‘Oh my God, what just happened?’”
Joe Biden’s State of the Union was praised by many Democrats, some of whom had been concerned he would perpetuate Republican caricatures regarding his age and mental acuity. But other Democrats scrutinized his use of the word “illegal” instead of “undocumented” to describe an illegal immigrant after Greene heckled him about the killing of Laken Riley in her home state of Georgia.
“Technically, he’s not supposed to be here,” Joe Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing for Philadelphia of Jose Antonio Ibarra, the Venezuelan citizen, 26, who was in the United States illegally when he allegedly kidnapped and then murdered the nursing student, 22, last month while she was on a run.
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Biden will be in Georgia on Saturday before making similar stops in Michigan, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin next week. That programming will be amplified by a $30 million six-week advertising push, part of a so-called month of action, which also includes endeavors aimed at expanding his staff, his volunteer pool, and his coalition.
“Donald Trump is not only failing to match our fundraising and investments — he’s showing neither the interest nor ability to build a winning coalition to get 270 electoral votes,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez-Rodriguez said. “President Biden sees things differently, which is why our campaign is using this month to aggressively scale our operation to engage and reach voters about the stakes of this election.”
