Joe Biden emerged from presidential retirement Friday night to spin some of his old hits against President Donald Trump – but this time the former president, or his speech writer, managed to come up with a predictable metaphor.
“I knew Trump was going to taking a wrecking ball to the country, but I had no idea. I have to admit, I didn’t know there was going to be an actual wrecking ball,” Biden said at a gala hosted in Omaha by the Nebraska Democratic party, referring to Trump’s ballroom construction project for the East Wing.
“It’s a perfect symbol of his presidency,” Biden said. “Trump has taken a wrecking ball not only to the people’s house but to the Constitution, to the rule of law, to our very democracy.”
At times mumbling and with his eyes straining to read the teleprompter, the 46th president also mentioned other Trump alterations to the White House to criticize Number 47.
“He now says we are, quote, ‘in a golden age,’” Biden said. “The only gold is the stuff he’s hanging on the mantle,” the former president said, referring to the enhancements in gold leaf in the Oval Office.
Biden then pivoted from bright gold to foreboding darkness.
“Folks, look, this isn’t a golden age,” he told the crowd at the fundraising dinner. “The fact of the matter is that it is a very, very dark moment.”
Then, quickly striking a note of optimism, Biden evoked the Democratic wins in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and California earlier this week, saying “something very special happened just last Tuesday.”
“The Democratic Party is back!” he proclaimed at one point.
While many in the legacy media gushed over the victories, some conservative commentators have pointed out that those victories were in Democrat-controlled states and yielded “no surprises,” as House Speaker Mike Johnson (D-LA) put it.
The New York Times pointed out in its coverage of the event that Biden hasn’t exactly been on the political circuit since leaving office.
According to the Times:
Since Mr. Biden left office, many Democrats have appeared eager to move on from him. He was absent from the recent campaigns for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, even as former President Barack Obama was invited to appear at arena rallies last weekend in those states.
The former president, however, hasn’t moved on from his long-standing habit of exaggerating his personal accomplishments.
The Times reported:
In his 30-minute remarks in Omaha, Mr. Biden, 82, cycled through some of his greatest hits. He spoke about how unions had helped build the middle class, exaggerated (“I was on the Foreign Relations Committee when I was 24 years old”) and sprinkled a dozen instances of “folks” throughout his remarks.
The former president also addressed his treatment for prostate cancer, even using that to transition into more shots at Trump.
“I thank God for the doctors and the nurses and the incredible breakthroughs we’re making in cancer research,” Biden said. “Now Trump and his Republican friends are cutting government funding for health care and making it more expensive, more expensive for virtually everyone.”
He also addressed the month-long government shutdown as Senate Democrats continue to demand the extension of healthcare subsidies before they will agree to fund the government with a continuing resolution. Biden claimed Republicans wanted to cut the subsidies so they could give “$4 trillion in tax breaks” to the wealthy.
As of Saturday, the White House had not commented on the speech.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel, who also formerly covered politics as a Detroit journalist, is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
