Biden Kicks Off First 2024 Campaign Rally With Pro-Union Message

President Joe Biden kicked off the first campaign rally of his bid for re-election to union workers in Philadelphia on Saturday with a focus on a core constituency: working-class voters.

Hosted by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, representing more than 12.5 million workers, Biden addressed approximately 2,000 union members assembled at the Philadelphia Convention Center. “I’m proud to be the most pro-union president in American history,” Biden said. “But what I’m really proud about is being re-elected the most pro-union president in American history.”

The event came just a day after the AFL-CIO and 17 other unions, including the American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, endorsed Biden’s re-election campaign.

The joint endorsement was the first of its kind, and came two days after a slew of environmental groups also endorsed the president. “I’m more honored by your endorsement than you can imagine,” Biden said on Saturday. “Coming this early, it’s gonna make a gigantic difference in this campaign.”

Biden spent much of his speech touting various legislative achievements, including a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, the CHIPS Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. “I told you when I ran for president, I’d have your back, and I have,” Biden said, before adding: “But you’ve had my back as well.”

The president also took a few shots at wealthy individuals and corporations, calling on “millionaires and billionaires and big corporations to pay their fair share” in taxes. “If investment bankers in this country went on strike tomorrow, nobody would miss—notice them,” Biden said, to peals of laughter. “But if this room didn’t show up for work tomorrow or Monday, the whole country would come to a grinding halt.”

The rally comes as Biden has struggled to communicate his legislative victories: A mere 33 percent of American adults say they approve of how Biden has handled the economy, and his approval ratings continue to hover around 40 percent—only slightly higher than Donald Trump’s. “It is important we’re communicating our story back home, especially in the biggest battleground state in the nation,” Representative Brendan F. Boyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat, told The New York Times.

Biden’s speech sharply contrasted with his September 2022 address in Philadelphia, where the focus was on portraying “MAGA Republicans” as a threat “to the foundation of our very Republic.” Continuing his reticence on the subject, Biden made no mention of Donald Trump or his recent indictment and only acknowledged the Republican Party to criticize its economic policy. “They’re coming for your jobs. They’re coming for your future,” he said. They’re coming for the future we’re building for your kids and your grandkids.”