Biden turns AP political speech into political event, urges audience to vote for Democratic slate

President Biden traveled to Pennsylvania on Tuesday for an event to promote his “safer America” ​​agenda and his administration’s policies on supporting law enforcement and crime, but instead changed his tone and attacked Republicans while urging attendees to vote for Democratic candidates. candidate for positions in the Keystone State.

Shortly after taking the stage, Biden touted two prominent Democrats running for office in Pennsylvania, the first being Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is running for the state’s next governor, and the second is John Fetterman, the state’s Democratic candidate for Senate.

“Josh Shapiro is a champion of the rule of law as attorney general and will make one hell of a governor,” Biden said to applause. “I really mean it.”

Before the event, Biden said he spoke with Fetterman, a man he considered a “powerful voice.”

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President Joe Biden speaks at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on August 30, 2022.
(JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

“I tell you what, Fetterman is one hell of a man, a powerful voice for working people,” Biden said. “And he’s going to be a great United States senator. You’re going to make a great United States senator.”

Despite comments made by members of his own party, Biden sought to paint himself as a pro-police president who has supported law enforcement throughout his nearly 50-year career in public service, which began when he was first elected to the Senate in 1973.

“I’m against defunding the police, I’m also against defunding the FBI,” Biden told the crowd.

Biden also sought to draw comparisons between elected Democrats and Republicans, as he took aim at those in the GOP who have not been as focused on the Jan. 6 protests as Democrats.

Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro campaigns at an event on August 18, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for SEIU)

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“Let me say this to my MAGA Republican friends in Congress: Don’t tell me you support law enforcement if you don’t condemn what happened on the 6th. Don’t tell me. I can’t do it. For God’s sake, Which side are you on,” Biden said. “You’re on the side of the mob or the side of the police… You can’t be a party of law and order and call people patriots who attacked the police on January 6. . You can’t do that. What are we teaching our children?”

Using the event to reiterate his call for a ban on “assault weapons” in the United States, Biden urged attendees to vote against candidates in races who strongly oppose gun control efforts .

Folks, it’s time to hold our elected officials to the fire and ask them “Are you in favor of banning assault weapons?” Yes or no, ask them. The answer is no. Vote against it,” he said.

In closing his speech, Biden appeared to confuse the Senate’s position seeking Fetterman for the governor’s seat, telling attendees to “elect this big boy as governor.”

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat, speaks during a rally in Erie, Pa., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.
(AP)

Before taking office, Biden suggested on the campaign trail that he would “absolutely” agree with efforts to redirect some police funding, a suggestion he later returned to when he targeted Republicans and claimed in July 2021 that they were “lying” about the efforts. promoted by members of the Democratic Party to “defund the police”.

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At the time, Biden claimed he had “never said get rid of the police” and argued that “we need more cops, not less cops” despite his previous support for the reallocation of funds.

Several progressive members of Congress, including “squadReps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., have called for the dismantling, defunding or significant downsizing of police departments.

Omar called for the Minneapolis Police Department to be dismantled because it is “rotten to the core.”