Joe Biden at the start of his campaign

First modification: 06/18/2023 – 17:44

From Philadelphia, the main city in the state of Pennsylvania, where he is from and where he installed his headquarters in 2020, President Joe Biden kicked off his campaign this June 17 against a key constituency for the 2024 elections: the unions.

At the Philadelphia convention center, Biden addressed a message to trade unionists, stressing that “when the middle class is doing well, all of society is doing well,” and therefore all his efforts have always been directed at strengthening the American middle class. .

More than 1,000 workers in unions representing various trades, from carpenters and airport service workers to artists and heavy-duty equipment engineers, most wearing T-shirts bearing their association logos, began chanting “Come on, Joe!” and “We want Joe”, amid whistles hours before the president arrived.

“It doesn’t bother me that there are millionaires. They just pay what they get ”, she exclaimed energetically and without a tie. “In short: it is time that big companies and millionaires start paying their fair share.” He said that those who hold more than a billion dollars only pay 8% in federal taxes.

Additionally, Biden highlighted the sweeping climate, fiscal and health care package, signed into law in 2022, that lowered the cost of prescription drugs and lowered insurance premiums — pocket issues that aides say will be the centerpiece of his argument. for a second term.

The public present, mainly belonging to the American Federation of Labor and the AFL-CIO Congress of Industrial Organizations, sponsored Joe Biden at this meeting, who also confirmed his support for 2024.

Joe Biden announced his candidacy at the end of April. His main message was to restore dignity to “worker America”, a message with which his rival Donald Trump managed to seduce a large part of the electorate.

with AFP