SCRANTON, PA (NEXSTAR) – Campaigning in Pennsylvania this week President Biden discussed the economy, the 2024 race and the Israel-Hamas war.
“We brought down inflation considerably. I know tempers and it is being stubborn and not going down to 2%, but significantly different number one. Number two the thing that really affect people’s lives are all of the small things like junk fees,” said Biden.
But for many Americans, paychecks aren’t going far enough.
“Well, we work to get those prices down by making sure corporate profits are brought under control. We have the strongest economy in the world. We have more to do. We’ve created 15 million new jobs and salaries are outpacing inflation,” he said.
The president is spending much of the week campaigning in the state of Pennsylvania and thinks he has a strong chance in the swing state.
“We’ve raised over 1,600,000 people contributing to us. Many of whom are in Pennsylvania. Tens of thousands of them. And guess what the average contribution is? Less than $200. Less than $200. Because almost 97% of the contributions are from small donors, he hasn’t opened a single headquarters here,” said Biden.
Biden shrugs off the attacks by his predecessor and 2024 challenger, Donald Trump.
“His lack of ethics has nothing to do with me. I have nothing. I’ve not once talked to anyone in my administration about Trump’s real problems. A lot of that occurred well before I became president. And so, I have nothing to do with that. Trump has a value set that is that is fundamentally different that most Americans.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters have followed the president to many of his events to express their frustration with him about the situation in Gaza.
“I’ve had a meeting with number one. And number two made it clear that we have to vastly increase the amount of food, water, health care going into Gaza.”
President Biden says he reluctantly supports the bills that are currently moving through the House addressing humanitarian aid for Gaza and military funding for Israel and Ukraine.