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Trump questions Biden's Scranton roots, predicts chaos under Democratic rule
By BORYS KRAWCZENIUK
OLD FORGE — President Donald Trump declared Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s presidency would produce chaos in America and questioned whether Biden was even born in Scranton.
“If you want a vision of your life under Biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins in Minneapolis, the violent anarchy of Portland, the blood-stained sidewalks of Chicago, and imagine the mayhem coming to your town and every single town in America,” Trump, a Republican, said.
Standing alone on a stage in bright sunshine amid stacks of lumber and other supplies at Mariotti Building Products, Trump called Biden “slow Joe.”
“He wasn’t born here. He abandoned Scranton. OK? His family had something to do with that. You know, his parents. But he loves Scranton. I mean, he keeps talking about, ‘I was born in Scranton. I lived in Scranton.’ Yeah, for a few years, and then he left for another state,” Trump said.
https://www.citizensvoice.com/trump-questions-bidens-scranton-roots-predicts-chaos-under-democratic-rule/article_46936f5d-126f-562e-8e99-fce733ce18cf.html
Biden was born in St. Mary’s Hospital in South Scranton on Nov. 20, 1942. He left with his family when he was no older than 10 because his father took a job in Delaware. Friends say he regularly returned with his family, as a college student and after that. They say his frequent and fond mentions of the city aren’t just about politics.
As Trump spoke to a crowd small by comparison to his past local rallies because of COVID-19 restrictions, hundreds more waited outside the venue on Moosic Road and at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport where Air Force One landed. After his speech, his motorcade stopped at Arcaro & Genell on Main Street where Trump bought trays of red and white pizza.
The president’s seventh trip to Northeast Pennsylvania aimed to boost his vote in Lackawanna County, which he narrowly lost in 2016, and Luzerne County, where he won by a large margin. Doing that in places like Lackawanna and Luzerne counties is considered crucial to his chances because of Republican decline in vote-rich Philadelphia and its suburbs.
“In 75 days, we’re going to win this state, we’re going to win four more years,” Trump said. “In three years, and what we’ve done in this short period of time, there’s been no administration that’s accomplished what we’ve accomplished and that’s despite pandemics and despite all of the opposition and all of the phony witch hunts.”
He told the crowd his administration “secured our borders, brought back our manufacturing jobs, rebuilt our military, wiped out the ISIS caliphate 100%, killed our terrorist enemies, achieved American energy independence.”
“And guess what? We’re just getting started,” he said.
A day after President Barack Obama excoriated Trump and told the Democratic National Convention the nation’s democracy is at stake in this election, Trump said the country’s survival is at stake.
“It’s true, because we’re dealing with crazy people on the other side,” he said. “They’ve gone totally stone-cold crazy.”
He
Casey argued Trump’s visit was about smearing Biden and Harris.
“And the reason he’s doing that is because he’s a desperate candidate that’s failed as a leader during the worst public health crisis in a century and one of the worst economic crises we’ve to destroy the American way of life.”
He accused Biden of pushing a $4 trillion tax increase and wanting to “take away your guns,” “shut down the energy fields of Pennsylvania” and “abolish the suburbs.”
“They want to throw up windmills that are going to ruin your houses,” he said.
He excoriated Biden for supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement, China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade treaty and “the horrible, ridiculous Paris Climate Accord.” In NAFTA’s place, he negotiated the “phenomenal” United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that will keep jobs from moving to Mexico, he said.
“Joe Biden is no friend of Pennsylvania,” he said. “There’s only one thing standing between you and the radical left wing mob and that’s your vote this November.”
Trump routinely mispronounced Democratic vice president nominee Kamala Harris’ first name and said he watched her acceptance speech Wednesday night.
“I watched Kamala last night and I said, I’ll take Mike,” he said, referring to Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump, who has raised doubts about Biden’s mental competence, also referred to former heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes of Easton as “Ernie Holmes.”
Jeff Horvath, a Times-Tribune staff writer, contributed to this story.
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.