Former President Joe Biden attacked President Donald Trump in a speech at a gala on Friday, claiming Trump was destroying democracy.
Biden had been relatively quiet since leaving the presidency, waiting several months into his rival’s second term to comment on the state of affairs in the country. He continued his venturing back into the public space on Friday, delivering a fiery speech at an Omaha gala hosted by the Democratic Party.
“I knew Trump was going to taking a wrecking ball to the country, but I had no idea, I have to admit, I didn’t know there was going to be an actual wrecking ball,” Biden said, referring to Trump’s destruction of the East Wing to construct a new ballroom.
“It’s a perfect symbol of his presidency,” he continued. “Trump has taken a wrecking ball not only to the people’s house but to the Constitution, to the rule of law, to our very democracy.”
The former president often addressed Trump directly, saying at one point, “You act in a way that embarrasses us as a nation, quite frankly.”
“You work for us, Mr. President. We don’t work for you. You work for us, not just billionaires and millionaires,” he said, adding, “I’m angry.”
Among his many criticisms of Trump was his taste in interior design, mocking his choice of redesign of the Oval Office.
“He now says we are quote ‘in a golden age.’ The only gold is the stuff he’s hanging on the mantle,” Biden said.
He even brought his cancer treatment back to Trump, after celebrating his completion of his last round of radiation therapy last month.
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“I thank God for the doctors and the nurses and the incredible breakthroughs we’re making in cancer research,” Biden said. “Now Trump and his Republican friends are cutting government funding for healthcare and making it more expensive, more expensive for virtually everyone.”
Biden’s attempts to reingratiate himself have largely fallen on deaf ears, given the lasting bitterness many Democrats hold over his handling of the last year of his presidency. Many in the party blame him for their crushing electoral loss last November, and continued revelations about his health and mental fitness have plagued evaluations of his presidency.
