President Joe Biden traveled to the other Wilmington — the one in North Carolina — on Thursday and criticized Republicans for not supporting his stimulus and infrastructure bills, which he said brought clean drinking water to the state.
“In fact, your Senator Ted Budd called the infrastructure bill part of ‘a socialist agenda,’” Biden noted. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s a socialist agenda to make sure kids can drink clean water to prevent brain damage.”
“I think it’s just common decency,” Biden added.
North Carolina could be a key swing state in the November elections, with former President Donald Trump barely squeezing a victory there in 2020.
Now a controversial Republican gubernatorial candidate could draw out Democratic voters.
President Joe Biden traveled to the other Wilmington — the one in North Carolina — on Thursday and criticized Republicans for not supporting his stimulus and infrastructure bills, which he said brought clean drinking water to the state
Biden hit Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina and former President Donald Trump during a day trip to North Carolina on Thursday. He mocked Trump for never being able to get an infrastructure bill passed
Biden bashed Trump — referring to him as his “predecessor” — in ways he has done before.
The president spoke gleefully about the many times Trump tried to hold an “infrastructure week” — only for some kind of scandal to arise.
“He didn’t build a damn thing,” Biden said.
“At the same time, he and his MAGA allies in Congress were happy to pass a $2 trillion tax cut that benefited the super-rich and the largest corporations while federal debt exploded,” the president added.
Biden’s comments at the end of the day came after he rerouted his original plan to simply come to Wilmington and stop in Charlotte instead — to meet with family members of the four police officers who were shot earlier this week.
They were: Sam Poloche and William Elliott of the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Officer Joshua Eyer; and Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks.
“The entire nation grieves with these families,” Biden told the crowd in Wilmington.
President Joe Biden greets Johnny Jennings, Chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, as he arrives at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Air Force One. Biden met with the families of law enforcement officers shot and killed in the line of duty
Actor Ralph Fiennes (second from right) watches Marine One depart from the White House on Thursday. The actor, known for his portrayal of Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, is in Washington playing Macbeth at the DC-based Shakespeare Theater Company
His meetings with the family members were private.
They took place on the North Carolina Air National Guard base, instead of downtown Charlotte, leaving a smaller police footprint by impacting the entire community.
Biden’s trip to North Carolina came after he finally addressed pro-Palestinian unrest on college campuses.
The president spoke for less than four minutes Thursday, saying he supported non-violent demonstrations but suggesting protesters were causing “chaos” at the university.
“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law,” he said Thursday from the Roosevelt Room. “Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, and closing campuses, forcing classes and graduations to be canceled. None of this is a peaceful protest.”
“There is a right to protest,” he continued. “But not the right to cause chaos.”
As he left, he told reporters that he did not want to see the National Guard deployed on college campuses.
He also said the protests on campus have not affected his thinking on Middle East policy.
And as he left the White House on Thursday, actor Ralph Fiennes was spotted in the crowd watching Marine One take off.
Fiennes is starring in Macbeth with the D.C.-based Shakespeare Theater Company.