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TOPLINE
President Trump traveled to Old Forge, Pennsylvania, just miles away from former Vice President Joe Biden’s hometown of Scranton, to deliver a scathing speech in which he claimed Biden ‘wasn’t born’ in Scranton, just hours before the Democratic presidential hopeful was set to accept his party’s nomination.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump speaks at his campaign rally on August 20, 2020 in Old Forge, … [+]
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KEY FACTS
Trump painted a dark picture of a Biden presidency to supporters in Old Forge, telling them their vote for him in November is the only thing standing between their family and a “radical left wing mob.”
Trump told voters to look to the “smoldering ruins” in Minneapolis, “violent anarchy” in Portland and the “blood-stained sidewalks” of Chicago as a preview of their lives under a Biden presidency.
Trump went beyond ideological attacks and into personal ones, calling Biden “Slow Joe” and saying he “doubts” Biden will be able to read his speech Thursday night.
But perhaps Trump’s most vicious and bizarre attack was on Biden’s claim to be a native son of Scranton, asserting that Biden, who was born in St. Mary’s Hospital in Scranton in 1942, “wasn’t born here.”
“Tonight, Slow Joe will speak at the Democrat convention. I’m sure he’ll just knock ‘em dead. He’ll remind us he was born in Scranton,” Trump said, stating that he views it “differently” and accusing Biden of “abandoning” Scranton.
“His family had something to do with that, you know his parents,” Trump conceded, noting that Biden was “like 8, 9 or 10” when his family moved to Delaware (Biden was 10).
Forbes has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.
Key Background
This is not the first time Trump has questioned the origins of one of his Democratic opponents in recent weeks. Asked earlier this month about an article that erroneously questioned the eligibility of Biden’s California-born running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, Trump praised the author of the piece and said “I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements,” adding “I would’ve assumed the Democrats would’ve checked that out before she gets chosen as vice president.” The comments came as an unpleasant aftershock to Democrats who remembered Trump’s frequent claims that President Obama was not born in America, claims he abandoned during the 2016 campaign.
What To Watch For
Comments like this may become a staple of Trump’s speeches as part of a broader strategy by his campaign to dismiss Biden’s Rust Belt roots and cast him as a “liberal elite,” similar to attacks he made against Hillary Clinton in 2016. These attacks have become a central message of the 2020 campaign since Biden tapped Harris as his running mate, with Trump’s fundraising emails telling supporters “It’s Mega Donors vs. You” and that Harris’ presence on the ticket means the two are indebted to “liberal elites” and Silicon Valley donors.
Big Number
6%. That’s how much Biden leads Trump in Pennsylvania, according to the RealClearPolitics average.
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