Former Vice President and current Democratic primary front-runner Joe Biden said President Donald Trump has largely ignored the middle class and put the economy in danger with his trade wars while making a case for himself on the campaign trail.
Biden was speaking in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, which will no doubt be a big battleground state that could actually determine the outcome of the 2020 general election.
“Middle Class Joe” Biden is the brand he’s cultivating, and he is making his case for the presidency by saying he will fight for the middle class. Biden argues that Trump has largely forgotten average Americans by passing a tax plan he claims mostly benefits the rich and corporations by slashing their tax rates, while also rescinding Obama-era worker protections.
Trump of course isn’t shy about touting his economic successes, which most experts point to as his calling card for reelection. The entire Democratic field will tell you, though, that Trump has only helped the rich, and Biden also took credit for the current state of the economy.
“If you’re going to restore the middle class, you’re going to need to start to reward work again, not just wealth,” Biden said. “Donald Trump inherited a strong economy from Barack and me. Things were beginning to really move. And just like everything else he’s inherited, he’s in the midst of squandering it.”
Biden also promoted his health care plan, which would essentially shore up Obamacare, reducing costs for the middle class, and he wants to improve public education while cutting college costs.
He also said he would rescind parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed by Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress. Biden said he will raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. The tax rate was 35% before the TCJA was passed, and he said companies have largely spent their new tax windfalls on share buybacks instead of investing the money into equipment and wage raises.
“The wealthy didn’t need (the tax cuts) in the first place,” Biden said. “The corporations have spent them on stock buybacks.”
Pennsylvania will be one of the most hotly contested states in the 2020 elections and, according to a Quinnipiac poll from May, Trump has a 42% approval rating with a 54% disapproval rating in the state.
Editor’s note: Is Biden wrong about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act? If you consider yourself “middle class,” did you get a tax break from the law? Also, if you were one of the many Obama voters who switched to Trump, are you considering switching to Biden if he wins the nomination? Share your thoughts experiences below.
