Biden says real-estate developer Trump ‘didn’t build a damn thing’ | US News

President Joe Biden mocked his predecessor Donald Trump, who made a fortune as a real estate developer, as having not built ‘a damn thing’.

Biden jabbed at former President Trump during a celebration around Labor Day and American workers and unions.

Speaking in Philadelphia on Monday morning, Biden said that the US had the best infrastructure in the world but that it dropped to number 13. He then took aim at Trump, without naming him.

‘But guess what? Guess what? The great real-estate builder – the last guy here, he didn’t build a damn thing,’ said Biden, drawing applause and laughter from the crowd of Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 19 members.

‘Under my predecessor, Infrastructure Week became a punchline.

‘On my watch, infrastructure means a decade and it’s a headline.’

Trump began his career as a real estate businessman working at Trump Management, his father’s company. He cut numerous major real estate deals in New York City and other major cities and built resorts and golf courses around the world.

He stepped down from leading the Trump Organization, as he renamed it, when he was inaugurated as the 45th president in 2017. Trump put his two eldest sons as executive vice president of the company.

Biden on Monday also differentiated himself from his predecessor by highlighting his humbler beginnings.

‘When the last guy was here, he looked at the world from Park Avenue,’ he said. ‘I look at it from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I look at it from Claymont, Delaware. Not a joke.’

Biden criticized Trump’s leadership around job growth.

‘It wasn’t that long ago we were losing jobs in this country,’ he said before the start of a Labor Day parade.

‘In fact, the guy who held this job before me was just one of two presidents in history who left office with fewer jobs in America than when he got elected.’

The US jobs market grew significantly during Trump’s term, but unemployment spiked dramatically near the end of it due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Since Biden took office in January 2021, job growth has averaged 436,000 per month. The country has four million jobs more than at the peak pre-Covid.

Trump is the clear front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination and challenger to Biden.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.