Biden to sharpen closing message in upstate New York by accusing Republicans of raising costs for Americans
President Joe Biden will step up his effort to paint Republicans as a threat to Americans’ pocketbooks in a speech from upstate New York on Thursday, a closing argument that focuses less on his own accomplishments and more on what the GOP might do if they take control of Congress.
Biden’s visit to a Syracuse, New York, community college is meant to tout Micron’s pledge to invest $100 billion in semiconductor manufacturing, in part because of recent legislation that strengthened domestic chip production.
But in his remarks, Biden also plans to go after Republican plans that he’ll argue would strip away some cost-lowering programs he’s enacted while rewarding the rich with new tax cuts.
Syracuse stands to benefit from a key Biden priority but it is also the center of a competitive House race, where a conservative Trump-aligned Republican is running against a moderate Democrat in a contest that’s currently a toss-up. The seat is being vacated by retiring incumbent Republican Rep. John Katko.
New York State’s gubernatorial election has also tightened in recent weeks, with the Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul battling Rep. Lee Zeldin in a race that’s focused heavily on increasing crime rates.
A senior White House official said Biden would “lay out in stark relief” five areas where Republicans have proposed undoing some of the Biden agenda.
They include plans to extend Trump-era tax cuts; repealing new drug pricing and health care cost provisions contained in the Inflation Reduction Act; eliminating tax credits for clean energy and electric vehicles; opposing Biden’s student loan relief plan; and threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare.
While Biden has spent much of this year’s midterm contests highlighting the steps he’s taken to reduce costs for Americans and boost American manufacturing, polls show Americans giving him poor marks on his handling of the economy.
While gas prices have again started to come down, inflation continues to weigh on voters’ minds in the run-up to the November vote.
Biden, who has mostly avoided large campaign rallies in favor of official events meant to promote his agenda, has sharpened his attacks recently on Republicans for threatening to undo the steps he says have lowered costs for Americans.
“There are two very different ways of looking at our country. One is, as I’ve said before, the view from Park Avenue, which says help the wealthy and maybe that’ll trickle down to everyone in the country. The other is from Scranton or Claymont or thousands of cities across the country like the place I grew up,” he said at the White House on Wednesday, referencing towns in which he lived as a child in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Still, he acknowledged that many Americans had yet to feel the benefit of an improving economy.
“I’m optimistic. It’s going to take some time. And I appreciate the frustration of the American people,” he said.
White House officials said Wednesday that Biden’s message in Syracuse would offer a sharp rebuke of Republicans’ plans, including the potential of sending the country into default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling.
It’s a message Democratic officials hope will resonate in the final stretch of the campaign as Republican appear to be gaining momentum. Biden himself is expected to continue traveling in the days ahead of the election, along with members of his Cabinet.
A White House official said members of the Cabinet had traveled to 29 states since October 1 on 77 different trips to amplify Biden’s message.
“We are entering a period here where the choice before the American people is incredibly stark, and the President’s going to continue to illustrate exactly the impact that the mega MAGA trickle-down agenda the congressional Republicans have put forward is going to have on families, and he’s going to continue pressing that case from now and for the weeks to come,” the official said.
Biden’s midterm campaign schedule so far has focused mostly on states he won in the 2020 election that nonetheless feature closer-than-expected races.
