In Labor Day speech, Biden hammers former President Trump's job record

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden on Monday criticized his likely 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump, during a speech marking the Labor Day holiday.

"In fact, the guy who held this job before me was just one of two presidents in history who left office with fewer jobs in America than when he got elected," Biden told a crowd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the presidential elections set for fall 2024.

“When the last guy was here, you were shipping jobs to China. Now we’re bringing jobs home from China,” said Biden. “When the last guy was here, your pensions were at risk; we helped save millions of pensions with your help.”

“When the last guy was here, he looked at the world from (New York’s expensive) Park Avenue. I look at it from Scranton, Pennsylvania, I look at it from Claymont, Delaware,” he continued, mentioning the city he was born in and the small town he grew up in.

“This Labor Day we’re celebrating jobs, good-paying jobs, jobs you can raise a family on, union jobs,” Biden said.

Despite facing several indictments in both federal and state courts, some for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election which he lost to Biden, Trump is currently leading his Republican rivals for the 2024 presidential nomination, according to many polls.

Some 59% of GOP primary voters supports Trump for the Republican Party presidential nomination, according to a Wall Street Journal poll released on Sunday. The poll also showed 40% support for Trump, compared to 39% for Biden.

The economy is the one of the major concerns of American voters ahead of the 2024 presidential race.