In his speech, Biden said the Democrats’ plan was to “beat the hell out of” Republican opponents and he prompted laughter on pretending not to know Trump’s name — “Donald Dump or Donald whatever.”
US President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris clasp and raise their hands after speaking at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland, on August 15, 2024. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris made an upbeat show of unity Thursday as they held their first joint public event since Harris replaced the president as the Democratic candidate in November’s election.
Chants of “thank you Joe!” rang out from the audience at a community college in Maryland, near Washington.
Biden was celebrated as he took credit for a major deal to reduce medicine prices for retirees on social welfare programs.
But the biggest star was Biden’s vice president who has united the Democratic Party and surged ahead in the polls against Republican Donald Trump since her abrupt entry into the race.
“She can make one hell of a president,” Biden said of Harris.
US President Joe Biden watches as Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland on August 15, 2024. (Photo by Drew ANGERER / AFP)
The joint appearance came a couple hours before Trump was due to hold a press conference at his golf club in New Jersey.
The real estate billionaire and scandal-engulfed former president has struggled to pivot his campaign since Biden dropped out on July 21, amid Democratic concerns that he lacked the stamina at 81 to do the job.
Until then, Trump was rising steadily in the polls, in large part on his message that Biden was losing his mental acuity — a charge which gained currency when the president badly flubbed a televised presidential debate.
Now it’s Harris, 59, who has the growing momentum against 78-year-old Trump.
And Biden, in the lame duck end of his four-year term, appears reenergized, embracing the role of mentor handing off to his protege.
In his speech, Biden said the Democrats’ plan was to “beat the hell out of” Republican opponents and he prompted laughter on pretending not to know Trump’s name — “Donald Dump or Donald whatever.”
US President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris embrace before Biden speaks at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland, on August 15, 2024. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) / ALTERNATE CROP
Axios reported Wednesday that Harris wants to “break with Biden on issues on which he’s unpopular,” with rising prices being top of the list.
While Trump has long polled more strongly on the economy, a recent poll from the Financial Times and University of Michigan found voters trust Harris more on the issue, by 42 to 41 percent.
Trump, who survived an assassination attempt on July 13, is now the oldest presidential nominee in US history.
He did not say what would be the topic of his press conference in New Jersey. In a speech on Wednesday, he veered from prepared remarks about the economy to repeated personal insults against “crazy person” Harris, “stupid” Biden and calling Harris’s running mate Tim Walz a “clown.”
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