President Joe Biden stumps for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, at the LIUNA union hall in Downtown Pittsburgh Oct. 26, 2024 (Photo by Abigail Hakas for the Capital-Star)
PITTSBURGH – President Joe Biden spoke to members of the Laborers’ International Union of North America on Oct. 26 during a visit to Downtown Pittsburgh, one of the latest in many high-profile visits for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
He celebrated the audience of union members, adding that his father used to preach about the importance of labor.
“My dad would say, ‘Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about your place in the community. It’s about how people treat you and look at you,’” President Biden said.
President Biden made headlines last year by becoming the first sitting president to appear on a picket line in Michigan when he joined workers in the United Auto Workers strike against General Motors, Ford and Chrysler maker Stellantis.
“When unions do better, what does it do for the rest of the economy? Everybody does better,” he told the Pittsburgh audience.
He emphasized the impact that laborers have had on America.
“Wall Street didn’t build America, the middle class built America,” he said. “And you built the middle class.”
LIUNA General President Brent Booker introduced President Biden, pointing to President Biden’s appearance on the picket line as a sign of a pro-labor agenda and describing himself as a “Joe Biden Democrat.”
“I never knew that would be how I defined myself and my politics because I couldn’t imagine any president doing what this president’s done,” Booker said. “Let me tell you, Joe Biden is a laborer’s laborer. He is one of us.”
Biden occasionally targeted Trump, calling him a “loser as a candidate” and a “loser as a man,” and saying that Trump “has no character.”
“He doesn’t give a damn about union workers, or any workers for that matter,” Biden said. “It’s in labor’s interest to defeat Donald Trump more than any other race you’ve been in as long as any one of you’ve been alive.”
Trump campaign spokesperson Kush Desai responded to President Biden’s statement by pointing to Trump’s high support among Teamsters union members. According to recent polling, around 65% of Teamsters members in Pennsylvania said the union should endorse Trump.
“Rank-and-file union members across Pennsylvania, including a majority of Teamsters, are backing President Trump because they know full well which candidate in this race delivered peace, prosperity, and stability for the American worker and which candidate left them at the mercy of historic inflation and unlimited illegal immigration,” Desai said.
Both Harris and former President Trump’s campaigns have made efforts to win over voters in Pittsburgh; President Biden last visited Pittsburgh in September at a Labor Day rally alongside Harris, former President Barack Obama rallied voters for Harris on Oct. 10 and former President Donald Trump attended a Steelers game on Oct. 20.
Biden said he picked Harris because she had the “backbone of a ramrod,” and praised the women of America and his sister Valerie Biden Owens, who has played an influential role in his many political campaigns, including managing his Senate campaign and first two presidential bids.
“They can do anything any man can do, including being President of the United States of America,” he said.
Biden urged the audience to call their undecided friends up and encourage them to vote for Harris. As he wrapped up his speech, the crowd chanted “Vote.”
When Air Force One landed in Pittsburgh, President Biden was greeted by U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) who pulled him in for a group photo with former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and others.
He visited a field office to speak to to volunteer phone bankers at the Allegheny County Joint Apprentice Training Committee, bringing them pizzas from Fiori’s Pizzaria.
“We’re gonna win Pennsylvania,” he told them before pumping his fist in the air.
Pennsylvania is a crucial battleground state this election with 19 electoral votes up for grabs. Recent polling shows Harris with a slight edge in the state, but running neck-and-neck with Trump nationwide.
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