Biden strikes economic populist tone during campaign rally before exuberant union members

PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden delivered an unapologetically economic populist message Saturday during the first rally of his reelection campaign, telling an exuberant crowd of union members that his policies had created jobs and lifted the middle class. “I’m looking forward to this campaign,” Biden said to cries of “four more years!” before adding, “We’ve got a record to run on.” His choice of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania — and a friendly union audience — as his first official campaign stop reflected their crucial role in his reelection effort. “I don’t know what the hell that is,” he said, “but it’s working.” The event, which organizers said included unions representing 18 million workers nationwide, recalled then-candidate Biden opening his 2020 presidential campaign at a union hall in Pittsburgh. Clark Hamilton, a 63-year-old retiree and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers member, said Biden embraced union values but also noted that the president sometimes “plays it like most politicians, in the middle.” He referenced Biden’s urging Congress to helped prevent a rail strike last year, which the president said could cripple commerce nationwide. “But he was trying to save the economy.” Still, Hamilton said he’s confident that Biden’s record will secure him a second term next year “especially if it’s against Trump.”