Politics

Biden reemerges on the attack, but doesn’t mention Trump

Published

1 year ago

April 16, 2025

CHICAGO — Former President Joe Biden ripped the Trump administration’s efforts to slash Social Security spending in his first major public speech since leaving the White House, but never mentioned the current president.

“In fewer than 100 days, this administration has caused so much damage and destruction. It’s breathtaking,” Biden told about 200 people gathered for the conference of Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled on Tuesday. “They’ve taken a hatchet to the Social Security Administration.”

Biden attacked the Trump administration for thousands of job cuts at the federal agency, arguing that they’ve eviscerated services and endangered benefits for the roughly 73 million seniors who rely on the popular financial assistance program.

“They’re shooting first and aiming later,” Biden said. “The result is a lot of needless pain and sleepless nights.”

Biden-isms shined throughout the sometimes rambling, roughly 30-minute speech, as he used the phrases “folks” and “I mean it sincerely” to make his points. The former president told well-trod stories of growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and of seeing his parents struggle to make ends meet, and he reminisced about his decades on Capitol Hill.

Biden’s comments were timed with “Social Security Day of Action” on Tuesday to protest what advocates describe as severe threats to the program under the Trump administration. His gradual reemergence comes as other — more critical — voices begin to shape the narrative surrounding his term. Biden’s aides have been bracing for the release of several books documenting his physical and mental state before he abandoned his reelection campaign last year, with allies already challenging reporting about his decline.

The speaking engagement in Chicago’s River North neighborhood was held just blocks from a high-profile campaign fundraiser held last year for Biden before he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.

The central argument of Biden’s speech Tuesday was that the Trump administration presents an untenable threat to Social Security.

“Social Security is more than a government program; it’s a sacred promise,” he said.

The White House response to Biden’s speech? “Embarrassing,” said a spokesperson, who referred Blue Light News to the Social Security feed on X, which accused Biden of “lying to Americans.”

Two former administration officials granted anonymity to discuss private plans said that although Biden wants to remain “engaged,” his speech in Chicago is not necessarily a sign of a more aggressive public schedule. Instead, Biden is expected to pick his spots on specific issues, like Social Security, that matter deeply to him, these officials said. In recent weeks, he’s spoken to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, accepting an honorary membership, and he dropped in on students at the Model United Nations conference.

“Coming out with a big democracy, rule of law speech would have been, maybe, too on the nose, so picking Social Security, something that is real to people … and it matters to him, makes a lot of sense,” said a third former Biden administration official. “No one would be talking about Social Security tomorrow if Joe Biden wasn’t giving this speech, so that alone is proof positive that he can still command a certain level of attention and ability to set the agenda.”

He’s also working on another book, these officials said.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “The unprecedented assault on Social Security is an all-hands-on-deck moment that requires all of us to show up, stand up and speak up, which is why President Biden’s voice in this fight is going to be so incredibly important.”

Former Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who introduced Biden at the event, said he thought the former president waited the “appropriate” (almost) 100 days to make his first big speech. And former Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who also was in attendance, said it was “absolutely” important that Biden speak out on what’s happening in Washington, even as some Democrats still have hard feelings about Biden staying in the campaign as long as he did last year.

Earlier in the day, David Hogg, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, described Biden’s return to public view as a natural step taken by former presidents who want to share their expertise.

“He’s not gonna stop being involved. He is a workhorse and he wants to get things done and he wants to help with the party,” Hogg said.

But Biden left office with sagging approval ratings, and many Democrats blamed their party’s losses in November on him staying in the presidential race for so long. Hogg, responding to some of the criticism about Biden in 2024, said: “Somebody can be very good at legislating, but not necessarily the right person to be out there on the front and center of things.”

Biden is not the only former world leader stepping out in recent days. Biden’s predecessor, President Barack Obama, took to social media on Monday night to criticize the Trump administration’s funding freeze for Harvard University. And on the same day Biden spoke in Chicago, Justin Trudeau, who had been laying low since resigning as Canada’s prime minister last month, was back in public view with an exit interview scheduled to air on a PBS station in Buffalo.

Canada is in the middle of a snap election, and voters have largely moved on from the three-term Liberal leader who was intensely unpopular at the time of his exit. And as with Biden, Liberals in Canada may not be eager to see him back in the spotlight.

The conversation with broadcaster Valerie Pringle for “Canada Files” was taped after Trudeau’s final Cabinet meeting Although there is seemingly little in the interview to hijack a campaign, the timing is less than ideal for a Liberal Party that’s counting on Canadians to forget the reasons they wanted Trudeau gone in the first place.

“How are you feeling?” Pringle asked Trudeau off the top of the half-hour broadcast.

“Really good,” he replied. “I’m feeling serene about everything that I got done. I think I had a good run.”

Sue Allen and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.

Politics

Former ICE official falls short in Ohio battleground district GOP primary

Published

1 hour ago

May 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Former ICE official Madison Sheahan lost a GOP primary in a battleground Ohio House district on Tuesday, a relief to Republicans who worried she could sabotage their chances of flipping the seat.

Former state Rep. Derek Merrin won the GOP nomination in the 9th Congressional District for the second cycle in a row, and will face Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in November. He lost to Kaptur by less than one percentage point in 2024.

Republicans see the seat as a prime pickup opportunity after the Ohio legislature redrew the state’s congressional map to make the district more favorable for Republicans.

Merrin’s victory comes with a sigh of relief from Republicans in the state who raised concerns about Sheahan’s background — she served as former deputy ICE director under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — being a soft target for Kaptur in a general election.

Sheahan drew attacks from fellow Republicans in the primary for her role in overseeing President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement operations in major cities, which triggered violent confrontations and protests.

Those clashes culminated in the killing of two American citizens by immigration officials in Minneapolis. Sheahan launched her campaign days after the killing of Renee Good, but before the death of Alex Pretti.

Trump didn’t endorse ahead of the primary, but the race was defined in part by candidates seeking to be the most MAGA candidate in the field. Sheahan ran TV ads touting her role at ICE and her connection to the Trump administration. Merrin went up with an ad in the race’s final days highlighting the endorsement he received from Trump during his 2024 campaign.

Kaptur starts the general election fight with a significant resource advantage over Merrin. Federal Election Commission filings from mid-April showed Kaptur with $3.1 million in cash on hand, dwarfing Merrin’s $189,000 in reserves.

Both the DCCC and the NRCC are expected to invest significantly in the race.

Politics

‘The Kamala Harris problem’: Vance’s 2028 hopes hinge on Trump, Iowa Republicans say

Published

2 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

DES MOINES, Iowa — Vice President JD Vance was greeted warmly by Republicans in Iowa on Tuesday, with would-be caucus goers and strategists optimistically curious about his potential as a 2028 presidential contender.

But first, they’re hoping he can help turn the economy around.

Vance’s fate is unavoidably linked to President Donald Trump’s. He’ll either carry the mantle of Trump’s accomplishments all the way into his own term in the White House — or be dragged down by Trump’s dismal approval ratings, which have spiraled amid an unpopular war in Iran and voters’ economic pessimism.

During Vance’s first trip as vice president to the early caucus state — where he was campaigning for Republican Rep. Zach Nunn at a rally in a manufacturing warehouse in this battleground House district — Vance’s close ties with Trump were on full display. He credited the president repeatedly for tariffs, tax cuts and agriculture industry aid. And he avoided any mention of 2028.

But his association with Trump’s agenda presents a high-risk, high-reward proposition that could make or break his political future, operatives and rallygoers said.

“That’s the risk of being part of an administration,” Iowa GOP strategist David Kochel said. “This is the Kamala Harris problem.”

Rep. Randy Feenstra, who is running for governor, said in between shaking hands with attendees that Iowans “absolutely” associate Vance with Trump and expressed confidence that the White House can deliver outcomes that benefit the state.

“We’re all in this together,” he said. “We trust Trump and the vice president and what they’re doing, and things are going to be great.”

Republicans in Iowa are loath to turn their back on Trump, the 2024 caucus winner who remains deeply popular among the base. Faded Trump-Vance campaign signs still line the rural roads around the state, and Iowa Republicans said they remained largely optimistic that Trump, with Vance by his side, can steer the economy in the right direction.

In a brief post-rally interview, Nunn said part of the benefit of the vice president’s trip was allowing Iowa Republican officials to “share what they want to see out of the next leader in 2028.”

But Americans’ patience for the administration’s economic policy to have a positive effect is wearing thin. A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Sunday found 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy and 76 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of cost of living issues. And even as Vance blamed former President Joe Biden’s administration for the teetering economy, an April POLITICO Poll found 46 percent of Americans feel Trump bears at least some responsibility for the state of the economy.

And the economic effects of Trump’s policies are particularly hard felt in Iowa’s vast agriculture industry. Trump’s tariff regime blocked off markets that had been reliable purchasers of U.S. agriculture goods, while the war in Iran has spiked the cost of diesel, which farmers depend on heavily.

Jake Chapman, a former president of the Iowa Senate who has advised multiple Republican presidential candidates in Iowa, said the conflict and the trade negotiations with other countries are top of mind for Iowa Republicans.

“A lot of people are thinking about foreign policy in particular, and how that impacts ag inputs and our agriculture economy,” he said.

In his speech, Vance acknowledged that the Trump administration hasn’t fully delivered on its economic promises. “We got a lot more work to do,” Vance told the crowd of hundreds. “We recognize that work. We’re excited about that work. That’s why you sent us to Washington, D.C.”

Still, those negative feelings towards Trump appear to be spilling over to Vance. That same poll found 48 percent of Americans disapprove of Vance — slightly worse than other senior Trump administration officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and fellow potential 2028 candidate Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio’s ascension in the 2028 shadow primary — both in the eyes of Americans and in standing with Trump’s inner circle — further complicates Vance’s path to the nomination. Eric Branstad, the son of former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and adviser to Trump’s three presidential campaigns in Iowa, said Vance’s portfolio may not resonate with Iowans as much as Rubio’s in an administration juggling multiple high-profile foreign conflicts.

“They’ve watched the secretary of state completely perform. He’s been put in all of the tough spots, and he has overperformed,” Branstad said. “The vice president is performing great. It’s just not been as noticeable as the secretary of state.”

Vance, however, has gotten an early start on building a campaign infrastructure, should he so choose to activate it. He has been a frequent surrogate and fundraiser for the GOP’s midterm operation and has campaigned for Republicans in battleground seats around the country. On Tuesday, he voted in Ohio’s competitive 1st District GOP primary and headlined a fundraiser in Oklahoma before travelling to Iowa.

“He’s the man who’s leading the charge to win the midterms,” Nunn said during his remarks.

Even as Vance stayed focused on this year’s elections on Tuesday, some Republicans are ready to look beyond the midterms. GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Steen said on the outskirts of the rally he thinks Iowa Republicans are eager to organize around the next generation of party leadership.

“I don’t know why not just start talking about 2028,” Steen said. “We need to know who we’re going to be getting behind. And if they did that now, I don’t think it’d offend anybody. I think it’d be a great thing.”

The vice president’s office declined to comment on Vance’s thinking about a future presidential campaign.

Whether or not the vice president can carry the ideological torch for Trump’s political movement may depend on how closely Vance — or any 2028 hopeful — can align with Trump. Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann said at the rally he doesn’t believe the next Republican presidential nominee necessarily has to appeal directly to Trump’s base to be successful.

“The Republican Party is multifaceted,” Kaufmann said. “We have MAGA voters… We have Christian evangelicals, we have business, we have Libertarians. I think all of them together are going to unite around some of the basic principles that everybody shares.”

Yet being Trump’s vice president brings certain advantages with Republican voters. Even if Vance isn’t afforded the goodwill that brought the president a dominant wire-to-wire favorite in the 2024 Republican primaries, Kochel said Vance “gets one of the gold tickets” in the contest.

“[Vance] will be the front-runner going into any caucuses that we have here in Iowa,” GOP governor candidate and state Rep. Eddie Andrews said on the sidelines of Tuesday’s rally.

But Iowa caucusgoers are notoriously scrupulous when vetting future world leaders. And Nunn acknowledged that Vance will at some point need to forge his own path to leading the party.

“Nobody can walk in Donald Trump’s footsteps, because it’s Donald Trump,” Nunn said.