PHILADELPHIA – President Joe Biden plans to tout his pro-labor record Saturday at his first major political rally since launching his re-election campaign, appearing alongside union members to argue that his economic agenda is pushing the middle class
His campaign says Biden, who will appear at the Philadelphia Convention Center, will “lay out the core principles of his economic message.” The president also plans to talk about how a broad climate, tax and healthcare package he signed last year has reduced the cost of prescription drugs and lowered insurance premiums. It’s part of his administration’s focus on his accomplishments during his first two years in office — the central argument for a second term.
Several of the nation’s most powerful unions, including the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, officially endorsed Biden’s campaign on Friday. The first joint endorsement by unions and the backdrop of hundreds of workers are part of a carefully choreographed effort to show the support of workers behind what Biden himself calls the most pro-union president in history.
“I’m saying that my philosophy about building from the middle out and from the bottom up is working,” Biden told reporters before a fundraiser in Connecticut on Friday evening.
The Philadelphia event also comes amid some encouraging economic news for Biden, with inflation cooling last month, continuing a steady decline in consumer prices driven mostly by lower gas prices, a smaller increase of grocery costs than in previous months and less expensive furniture and air fares. and household appliances.
The city and Pennsylvania have long been at the center of Biden’s political efforts. Philadelphia was the site of his 2020 campaign headquarters and the state was one of the few that had voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but returned to the Democrats four years later.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said some union members supported Trump in the past because “there’s a lot of grievance in this country and there’s a lot of unhappiness. And what Trump was a master of was power exploit fear and exploit grievance.”
Joe Biden during a political rally in Philadelphia, Saturday.Julia Nikhinson / AFP – Getty Images
He said part of the reason the AFT and other major unions endorsed Biden nearly 18 months before Election Day 2024 was to promote Biden’s economic record against Republicans’ championing cultural issues.
Biden “will feel very, very comfortable when he’s in Philadelphia. He’ll be among friends,” added Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. It pushed for coordinated support of Biden’s re-election campaign by major unions early in the cycle.
So far, the main activity of the Biden campaign has been fundraising. He raised money at a private home in Greenwich, Conn., on Friday and will soon hold fundraisers in California, Maryland, Illinois and New York.
