President Biden spoke to small businesses Friday in and around the Philadelphia suburb of Allentown, which the White House said is experiencing an “economic comeback,” as he touts his “Bidenomics” agenda in an effort to shore up his record on the economy.
Biden’s pitch Friday was that he’s been better for small businesses than former President Donald Trump, a billionaire, real estate magnate and reality television host who won the presidency in 2016 on the premise that he knows how to grow the economy.
“My name is Joe Biden and I work for the governor and the senator,” the president said as he stepped into the Nowhere Coffee Co. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania. Biden ordered what appeared to be a mango smoothie.
AMERICANS DESCRIBE STRUGGLES TO AFFORD FOOD WHILE BIDEN TOUTS STRONG ECONOMY: ‘I AM HONESTLY SCARED’
President Joe Biden speaks while visiting firefighters at the Allentown Fire Training Academy in Allentown, Pa., as Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., left, looks on. Earlier in the day, Biden had stopped into a trio of Pennsylvania stores to stress the value of small businesses and talk up his economic record. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
During a later stop at a firefighter training center in Allentown, Biden said people were beginning to feel positive about the economy, particularly inflation, which has receded from its June 2002 high of 9.1% to 3.4%.
“If you notice, they’re feeling much better about how the economy is doing,” Biden said in response to a reporter’s question. “What we haven’t done is letting them know exactly who got it changed. … Everybody’s doing better and they believe it. They know it. And it’s just beginning to sink in.”
The president has repeatedly boasted about the economy amid inflation and rising interest rates that have been a barrier for many potential first-time home buyers.
Under Biden, unemployment in Allentown sits at 3.9% and has reached a 20-year-low, according to figures provided to Fox News Digital by the White House. In addition, 32,000 jobs were added in the region and new business applications grew by more than 30% in 2022.
But the economic recovery touted by the White House stands in stark contrast to recent announcements of layoffs at some of the country’s most influential institutions in the banking, tech and business sectors. Citigroup plans to let go of 20,000 employees over the next two years, CFO Mark Mason said Friday.
A few hundred employees working on Google’s voice assistant unit and another few hundred people working on the augmented reality hardware team will also be let go. Amazon plans to layoff hundreds of workers by the end of the week at its Prime Video, MGM Studio and Twitch divisions.
Trump and a slew of Republican presidential contenders have hammered Biden’s record on the economy. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Nikki Haley said many Americans are still feeling the pinch of the increasing costs for everyday items.
“Biden can say the economy is great all day long, but everybody knows that’s not true when they go to the grocery store and the gas station, or when they pay their mortgage and insurance,” Haley said. “Biden’s runaway spending is hurting American families. We need to stop the borrowing, stop the debt, and cut up the credit cards. But first, we have to retire Joe Biden from the White House.”
Fox News Digital reached out to other GOP presidential contenders for comment.
Following the November jobs report released in early December, Biden boasted his administration had created “over 14 million jobs.”
A Fox News poll released last month revealed only 14% of respondents said they were helped by Biden’s economic policies.
President Joe Biden’s motorcade is lined as he drives to the Allentown Fire Training Academy, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, in Allentown, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP)
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Earlier this month, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Americans needed to give Biden’s economic policies more “time” to take effect as voters remain sour on the president.
“We get that, so it’s going to take a little bit of time for folks to feel what the ‘Bidenomics’ has been able to do,” she told MSNBC host Willie Geist. That’s not something that I’m saying. That’s something that economists have said, right? It takes a little bit of time. But it doesn’t mean, it doesn’t mean that the president is not going to continue to work.”
The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck and Dana Blanton contributed to this report.
