U.S.
Biden goes on attack against Trump, media in Detroit amid calls to drop out
By
The Detroit News July 13, 2024
Craig Mauger and Eleanor Whitaker
The Detroit News July 13, 2024
President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally at in Detroit, Michigan on July 12, 2024. (Daniel Mears/The Detroit News/TNS)
DETROIT (Tribune News Service) — President Joe Biden rejected speculation about the future of his reelection campaign and criticized the media for giving Republican Donald Trump what he labeled a “free pass” during a raucous rally Friday night in a Detroit high school gymnasium.
As some members of the Democratic Party have argued that Biden should step aside as their nominee in the wake up a weak debate performance , the crowd of about 2,000 people at Renaissance High School chanted, as he took the stage, “Don’t you quit.”
When Biden mentioned Trump, the crowd chanted, “Lock him up,” a hallmark of Trump rallies from the 2016 presidential campaign when he and his supporters called for the imprisonment of Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“I am running. And we’re going to win,” Biden told the crowd.
Biden vowed to “shine a light” on Trump that, he said, the press hadn’t. Biden said Trump is a convicted criminal and a threat to the nation, citing the Republican’s push to overturn the result of his 2020 election loss. Biden said another four years of Trump would be “deadly serious.”
“The press — and they’re good guys and women up there — they’ve been hammering me,” Biden said.
“I make a lot of mistakes,” he said as the crowd booed the traveling and local press covering the rally. “Because I sometimes confuse names. I say that’s Charlie instead of Bill. But guess what? Donald Trump has gotten a free pass.”
Biden railed against how the media has covered his verbal flubs. On Thursday night, after the end of a NATO summit in Washington, Biden called referred to his opponent as “Vice President Trump” and referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin,” the Russian leader who is waging war against Zelenskyy’s country.
“When invading Ukraine, here’s what Trump said — I’m not making this up either: He called (Putin) a genius and said it was wonderful. What in the hell is going on?” Biden asked. “But people would rather talk about how I mix up names. I guess they don’t remember that Trump called Nikki Haley ‘Nancy Pelosi.’”
“Donald, no more free passes,” Biden declared.
Biden’s campaign trip Friday marked his fourth visit to Michigan of the year and comes 116 days ahead of the Nov. 5 general election and 15 days after a rocky debate between Biden and former President Trump that spurred bipartisan criticism of the Democratic incumbent.
Several Democratic politicians and activists came to Biden’s defense Friday night during the rally.
Cindy Rudolph, a pastor at Oak Grove AME Church in Detroit, introduced Biden on Friday night. Rudolph said there were some raising doubts about the president.
“There are far more who are with you than there are who are against you,” the pastor told the crowd.
Michigan is among the battleground states that will decide which party wins the presidency in November. In 2020, Biden beat Trump by 3 percentage points in Michigan, 51% to 48%.
Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, blasted Biden’s campaign stop Friday.
“His obsession with electric vehicles is guaranteed to cripple the community and put Michiganders out of work,” Hoekstra said. “Joe Biden has proven time and time again that he is wrong for Michigan.”
Before the rally, Biden spoke for about two minutes to supporters in an overflow room at Renaissance High School, making clear he would focus his campaign on denying Trump a second term in the White House, according to a press pool report.
“It’s going to be all about Trump from here on out,” Biden told supporters.
That proved true during the rally as the president read a speech from a Teleprompter that lasted about 36 minutes.
Biden noted that Trump has promised to be a dictator on his first day back in the Oval Office.
“And he means it folks,” Biden said. “We’re not gonna let that happen. Over my dead body.”
‘I promise you I am OK’
Earlier in the day, amid widespread speculation about his health, Biden promised a group of his supporters, during a stop at the Garage Grill and Fuel Bar in downtown Northville, that he was “OK.” He touted his administration’s efforts to expand access to health care and lower prescription drug prices.
Biden, 81, told supporters in Northville that he’s seeking a second four-year term because there’s more to do and he wants to “finish the job.”
He then joked, “I know I’m only 41.”
At the end of his remarks, Biden said, “We have real opportunities. Real opportunities. Got to finish the job. I promise you I am OK.”
Biden gave a handful of meandering and confusing answers at the debate. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., joined a group of 19 Democratic lawmakers in Congress who have called on Biden to drop his bid for another term.
But Biden and his supporters have pressed on, seeking to reassure voters that he’s the right choice to take on Trump.
Detroiter Bonnie Ferrell, 55, said one poor debate performance should not define a candidate.
“He’s done the job whether you liked the way he debated. He has done the work,” Ferrell said.
Ferrell said voters should be concerned about letting Trump step into office.
“A vote against Biden is a vote for Trump, who is a person who does not care about our democracy or the quality of life of individuals,” Ferrell said.
Biden lamented that Republicans in Congress let his expanded child tax credit expire after it had cut child poverty in half in America. “I’m gonna make child-care tax cut permanent,” he said, misstating the name of the tax credit.
He said also in his second term he’d expand the $35 cap for insulin beyond seniors to all Americans.
Biden also said he wants to make billionaires pay a minimum income tax of 25%. “Billionaires’ federal tax is 8.2%. Not a joke. I’m not making this up. No billionaire should pay lower taxes than a teacher, a firefighter or a nurse.” He says that would generate $500 billion over the next 10 years.
‘Biden vs. everybody’
Michael Clift, 68, attended Friday’s rally and said the identity of a president is less important than the platform of the president.
“I have a Biden-Harris pin, but I could be Harris-Biden too. In other words, who the Democrats run does not matter to me,” Clift said.
Clift said he would be in favor of Biden stepping down for a younger candidate.
“I think the Democrats need to get better at turning over the reins to younger leaders. They haven’t done that and that is kind of unfortunate,” Clift said.
Rudy Reyes, a 74-year-old resident of Charlotte, Michigan, said Biden should stay in the race for presidency.
“And all the other people, who I call Democrats, are bailing out of the ship because its going to affect their paycheck if he loses,” Reyes said. “But no way in hell can they stick another candidate in the race. They would lose.”
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was among the Democratic officeholders who spoke at Biden’s rally.
In an interview before Biden’s visit, Benson, the state’s top elections official, said she wants to remind voters of the power they have.
“Every citizen needs to understand the impact their vote will have on the future of democracy,” Benson said.
Benson declined to talk in detail about her views of Biden, citing her role as Michigan’s chief elections administrator.
Benson, Michigan House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, and actress Octavia Spencer were among the group that greeted Biden at the Detroit Metro Airport. Tate and 13 fellow Democrats in the Michigan Legislature who represent Detroit signed onto a letter this week offering their “unwavering” support of Biden as the party’s standard bearer.
Democratic U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor, Haley Stevens of Birmingham and Shri Thanedar of Detroit traveled with Biden on Air Force One to the airport. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and former U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Southfield also were on hand for Biden’s arrival on Air Force One.
At the rally at Renaissance High School, Duggan recounted Biden’s long support for Detroit, through the city’s 2013-14 bankruptcy and yearslong economic recovery.
The mayor compared Biden’s recent campaign tumult to the mantra of the popular “Detroit vs. Everybody” shirts.
“If you’ve been watching the news the last week, it seems like Joe Biden vs. Everybody,” Duggan said.
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, a Detroiter, was more direct in his criticism of Biden’s recent detractors in the Democratic Party.
“You’re either with or against us,” Gilchrist said.
‘Not the president I thought he would be’
Down the street from Biden’s rally, protesters gathered to voice their opposition to his continued candidacy and support of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Roughly 50 people gathered by a parking lot entrance near A. Philip Randolph Career & Technical High School to protest Biden’s support of Israel, calling for Biden to get the Israelis to halt its military assault on the Palestinian territory.
“He promised us and I heard him say that he believed the Palestinians should have their own country. I hold him responsible and I feel betrayed,” said Nadia Youmans, a protester and Detroiter born in Palestine.
“We are very angry at Biden,” Youman added. “I was his biggest supporter, and now I am very disappointed. He is not the president I thought he would be.”
Another Detroit protester, Nicole Conaway, 47, said any other Democrat would be better than Biden.
“I am calling for Biden to step down immediately,” Conaway said. “The stakes are too high, and he does not possess the strength of a leader we need to defeat Trump. I honestly think any of the other Democrats that are being put forward would be more likely to win than Biden.”
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