President Joe Biden on Friday took his pitch for a second term to the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania, contrasting himself with his predecessor in what was effectively his first rally of the 2024 general election campaign.
Biden’s speech in the Philadelphia suburbs was essentially an abridged version of the State of the Union address he gave the previous night — though there were some notable differences. Biden on Friday didn’t hesitate to refer to his predecessor and likely 2024 rival by name, something he avoided during his State of the Union.
“Donald Trump with the MAGA Republicans are trying to take away our freedoms,” Biden told the crowd on Friday. “That’s not an exaggeration.”
“Well, guess what?” the president added. “We will not let him.”
Biden repeatedly referred to the former president by name during his Friday remarks, lambasting Trump’s role in overturning Roe v. Wade, the $2 trillion tax cut he signed while he was in office and his recent comments that he would encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin to do what he wants to NATO member countries who don’t fulfill funding obligations.
“He thinks Putin is a strong — basically, he’s a decent guy,” Biden said of Trump.
He also referenced Trump’s meeting at Mar-a-Lago on Friday with Hungary’s strongman Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
“You know who he’s meeting with today, down in Mar-a-Lago?” Biden said. “Orbán of Hungary, who stated flatly he doesn’t think democracy works — he’s looking for dictatorship.”
“That’s who he’s meeting with,” Biden added. “I see a future where we defend democracy, not diminish it.”
Interspersed in his remarks were references to Thursday night’s…
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