WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama told voters at a drive-in rally Wednesday that his former vice president, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, will “lead this country out of dark times” at the first stop on Obama’s tour of key battleground states.
“I am back here tonight to ask you to deliver the White House to Joe Biden and [ vice presidential nominee Sen.] Kamala Harris,” Obama said.
Obama’s stop in Pennsylvania was the first of several battleground state events the former president has scheduled in the home stretch of the election to support his former running mate.
Currently Biden has held a steady lead ranging from five points to 12 points over President Donald Trump nationally and holds about a five–point lead in Pennsylvania polls. He sharply criticized Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying his administration left the Trump administration a playbook to handle a pandemic that has been ignored.
“Eight months into the pandemic, cases are rising again across the country. Donald Trump isn’t suddenly going to protect all of us,” Obama said. “He can’t even take the basic steps to protect himself.”
He also criticized the president for paying only $750 in income taxes his first year of being president saying, “It is not a great idea to have a president who owes a bunch of money to people overseas.”
Obama praised Biden for his plans to reduce taxes, protect health care and contain the pandemic.
“I am asking you to believe in Joe’s ability and Kamala’s ability to lead this country out of dark times and help us build it back better because we can’t abandon those hurting right now,” he said.
Obama told the crowd that Biden always helped him make tough decisions and made him a better president.
“I came to admire Joe as a man who has learned early on to treat everybody he meets with dignity and respect,” said Obama.