Biden suggests he'd like to beat up “macho guys” at final campaign stop

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — President Joe Biden returned to his birthplace in Pennsylvania and made one final campaign stop for vice president on Saturday Kamala Harris and let go again – conveying the kind of unfiltered political feelings that existed become quite common in the last few weeks.

Biden criticized Harris' rival, the former Republican president Donald TrumpHe spoke to his supporters about political issues during a speech in Scranton, but then indicated that he would – in the truest sense of the word – defend himself against fake “macho types.”

“There is something else Trump and his Republican friends want to do. They want a huge tax cut for the rich,” Biden told the local chapter of the carpenters union. Then, apparently referring to people who support Trump, he added: “I know some of you are tempted to think they're macho guys.”

“I'll tell you what, when I was in Scranton, we had a little trouble getting through the act every now and then,” Biden continued. “These are the guys you’d most like to punch in the ass.”

During a rally later Saturday night in North Carolina, Trump mocked Biden, asking the crowd, “I don't even know, is he still there?”

Biden's comment in Scranton drew laughter from the crowd. But it was another moment in which he deviated from the political playbook, something that happens frequently to the president now — even if he played a limited role in promoting Harris and made few campaign stops his former running mate.

Earlier this week, Biden sparked an uproar with his response Racist comments at a recent Trump rally made by the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who described the US island territory of Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage”.

“The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden responded.

White House Press Representatives the official transcript changed That has led to objections from federal employees who are transcribing what the president says for posterity, according to two U.S. government officials and an internal email obtained by The Associated Press.

And the reference to “garbage” followed Biden – during a recent visit to a campaign office in New Hampshire – Saying from Trump“We have to lock him up,” before quickly amending his comments and indicating that he meant Democrats need to “lock him up politically.”

Biden's comments on Saturday come at a time when gender issues and differing partisan loyalties between men and women have become a major theme of the campaign.

Trump promoted masculine tropes throughout his campaign to attract more male voters. He supported a return to traditional gender roles and addressed issues such as “ Protect women “ whether they “like it or not” in the final days of the campaign.

Harris has taken a very different approach, promising to protect access to abortion and increase government spending to help families cover housing and child care costs.

Despite being a senator from Delaware for decades, Biden spent his early childhood in Scranton, and Saturday's event was a homecoming for the outgoing president in more ways than one. He spoke at the same union hall he visited on Election Day 2020

“Let them know how important this election is,” Biden told the crowd of about 200 enthusiastic supporters. As he stated, “I'm not special,” an audience member shouted back, “Sure you are,” prompting shouts of “Thanks, Joe.”

The president urged attendees to “vote for yourself and your families, the people you grew up with, the people you come from.”

“Don’t forget where you come from,” Biden thundered to shouts and applause. “Don’t leave the people you grew up with behind.”

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Weissert reported from Washington.