Biden came out swinging at the top of his speech with robust attacks.
President Joe Biden took on Donald Trump in a fiery speech to Congress on Thursday, accusing his election rival of threatening US democracy and kowtowing to Russia, as he laid out his case for four more years in the White House.
Biden, who has been pushing Congress to provide additional funding to Ukraine for its war with Russia, also had a message for Putin: “We will not walk away,” he said. He also knocked Republicans for seeking to roll back healthcare provisions under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and driving up deficits, and jibed them for taking money from legislation they had opposed.
The speech may be the Democratic president’s biggest stage to reach voters weighing whether to vote for him, choose Trump, or sit out the election. Nikki Haley, Trump’s last remaining rival for his party’s presidential nomination, dropped out on Wednesday. The US economy is performing better than most high-income countries, with continued job growth and consumer spending. But Americans overall give Trump better marks in polls for economic issues.