This is a recession created by the negligence of Donald Trump, says Joe Biden. (FILE)
Warren, United States:
Joe Biden courted working-class voters in controversial Michigan on Wednesday, warning that President Donald Trump’s “neglect” in handling the coronavirus pandemic has plunged the country into recession.
It was the former vice president’s first foray into the state since winning the Democratic Party nomination in June and comes a day before his Republican rival Trump made his own trip here.
The dueling campaign stops – including appearances on the same day Friday at a 9/11 commemoration in Pennsylvania – signal the ferocity with which the two will fight for a handful of swing states likely to determine the election outcome November 3.
Biden has unleashed fierce criticism of the president, saying Trump’s actions “have put our economy into free fall”, with tens of millions of layoffs in March and April and less than half of those jobs regained.
“This is a recession created by the negligence of Donald Trump, and he is unfit for this job as a result,” Biden said in Warren, near Detroit.
“How many families are missing loved ones at their tables tonight because of their failures?” he said, noting that the death toll from American Covid-19 has reached 190,000.
“It’s more than contemptible. It’s a dereliction of duty. It’s a shame.”
Biden leads Trump in pre-election polls, and the pandemic has particularly depressed the president’s approval numbers.
But the economy remains a bright spot for Trump, as voters across the country and in critical states say they trust him more than Biden to control the United States’ purse strings.
Biden sought to paint a grim picture of a president offshoring American jobs and unleashing destabilizing trade wars, allowing the trade deficit to rise to unprecedented levels and breaking his promise that no auto factories would close under his watch .
“When the GM transmission plant here in Warren closed last year, I bet the people here weren’t quite comforted by Trump’s empty promises,” Biden said, standing in front of a fleet. American cars in a United Auto Workers hall.
The veteran Democrat unveiled two new elements of his economic stimulus plan: a tax penalty for companies that outsource jobs to avoid paying US taxes, and a 10% “Made in America” tax credit for companies who invest in American factories and workers.
Trump will be touting his own robust economic message when he arrives in the state on Thursday.
In 2016, Trump ripped off Michigan, which had voted Democratic in the previous six presidential elections, by just 11,000 votes, or 0.23 percent, in part by claiming he would bring manufacturing jobs back to sore industrial states.
Biden relentlessly challenges this narrative as he tries to convince working-class voters in Rust Belt, says Trump won in 2016, notably in Pennsylvania and Ohio, areas with significant but declining industrial bases.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
