President Joe Biden made his pitch to a powerful labor union whose organizing strength could help him beat former President Donald Trump in November if he remains the Democratic nominee.
Reflecting on his role as host of the 75th NATO summit, Biden described the AFL-CIO during its executive council meeting in Washington on Wednesday as his “domestic NATO.”
“You’re the ones, beyond me… it’s all about whether or not we’re going to grow the economy, whether we’re going to give working people a shot,” Biden told the union leaders. “When labor does well, everybody does well.”
“I said I was going to be the most pro union president in history, well guess what? I am,” he said.
The AFL-CIO is the country’s largest union federation, with members including the American Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
“This is the latest example of President Biden rallying the Biden-Harris coalition this week around the stakes of this election,” Biden campaign spokesman Seth Schuster wrote Wednesday of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. “As the president spelled out in a letter [Monday] to congressional Democrats: he is staying in the race, and he will beat Donald Trump in November.”
“He then reaffirmed his commitment and answered questions on Morning Joe, to supporters, with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and to Democratic mayors from across the country on Tuesday night,” Schuster said. “Last week, he met with Democratic governors, attended a black church service in Philadelphia, organized with union members in Harrisburg, and more.”
In addition to Biden’s Pennsylvania itinerary from last weekend, Schuster also underscored Biden’s travel last week to Wisconsin and his trip Friday to Michigan, before he is expected in Nevada and Texas next week.
Biden’s sit-down with the AFL-CIO union is part of his presidential outreach as he tries to convince Democrats to keep him as their party’s nominee after last month’s debate in which he performed poorly, losing his train of thought and standing with his mouth agape.
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Biden told the Democratic Mayors Association on Tuesday that he and his administration, in collaboration with them and their own aides, have been “making enormous progress.”
“We’re going to make sure that we focus on the things that affect people in my city in Wilmington, Delaware, my hometown, as well as yours,” he said. “This campaign is going to be won with basic block-and-tackling. … We’ve made thousands of calls. We’re putting up hundreds of signs all across America. We’re getting people to engage and go out and knock on doors.”