Joe Biden is making a direct pitch to working-class voters who supported President Trump four years ago with a $700 billion plan to kick-start manufacturing in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Donald Trump loves to talk and talk and talk,” Biden said Thursday in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. "But after three-and-a-half years of big promises, what do the American people have to show for all the talk?"
In particular, Biden, the two-term vice president and presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, ripped the Republican White House incumbent for being out of touch with ordinary peoples' concerns.
Ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, he leaned into his experience growing up in nearby Scranton, Pennsylvania, before his father moved the family to neighboring Delaware for a job.
"The truth is, throughout this crisis, Donald Trump has been almost singularly focused on the stock market. The Dow. The NASDAQ. Not you. Not your families," he said over the sound of chirping birds and the pitter-patter of rain.
He added: "Growing up rich and looking down on people is a bit different than how I grew up here."
Biden returned to his home state Thursday to unveil his plan to help rebuild the economy after the coronavirus outbreak. He toured Dunmore's McGregor Industries metal works plant just before giving his address to a select group of reporters and supporters.
New details for Biden's Build Back Better proposal encouraging the purchase, manufacture, and innovation of American products include investing $400 billion in buying materials and goods "our country needs to modernize our infrastructure, replenish our critical stockpiles, enhance national security." He promised to put aside $300 billion for research and development during a hypothetical first term as well to "sharpen America's competitive edge," claiming the injection could create 3 million jobs across the country.
“I do not buy for one second that the vitality of American manufacturing is a thing of the past," he said, foreshadowing the release of additional ideas on infrastructure, clean energy, and child care in the coming weeks.
Biden's targeting of working-class voters comes as polls show Trump's appeal among people without college degrees is dissipating. It coincides, too, with an internal memo outlining his campaign's confidence he can expand his base in the fall.
[Read more: Joe Biden campaign's latest target: Mike Pence]
