President Joe Biden's Tuesday speech before the legislative conference of North America's Building Trades Unions, his first public remarks since announcing his 2024 reelection campaign, featured a number of attacks against former President Donald Trump, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Republican lawmakers.
Though the president had stated for months his intention to run again in 2024, Biden did not launch his bid until Tuesday morning, when he released a campaign video declaring his candidacy.
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Later Tuesday afternoon, Biden bragged to attendees at the NABTU conference about being the "most pro-union president" in U.S. history and claimed his legislative wins will bring back manufacturing jobs and reduce costs for families.
"The Inflation Reduction Act also makes the most significant investment dealing with climate change ever, anywhere, in the history of the world. It offers working families $1,000 a year in savings with rebates to buy energy-efficient appliances and weatherize their homes," Biden said. "It offers tax credits for heat pumps, rooftop solar, and for new and used electric vehicles. And guess who will install those 500,000 charging stations? The [International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers]."
The president used the tail end of his remarks to attack Trump, McCarthy, and "MAGA Republicans," who he said are trying to cut benefits for seniors and risking U.S. credit by threatening not to raise the debt limit.
"Folks, America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills," Biden said before claiming that McCarthy's debt limit proposal could endanger 780,000 middle-class jobs.
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"I've never been more optimistic about America's future," he said. "We're on the cusp of major change. We're creating jobs again. People can afford decent healthcare. Towns that have been forgotten and left behind for dead are coming alive again because of you all and what we're doing. Now we've just got to keep it going and finish the job."
You can watch Biden's remarks in full below.