'Union workers will finish the job', says Biden amid 'four more years' chants

US President Joe Biden, hours after announcing his 2024 re-election bid, addressed a packed gathering of union workers numbering up to 3200 on Wednesday, April 25. The labour unions have long been one of Biden's political safe spaces.

While Biden did not mention the hashtag that has been trending across the United States all Wednesday — #BidenHarris2024 — he was welcomed by the chants of "four more years" at the union workers' gathering.

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"I'm here because there’s no better place to talk about the progress we have made together and wouldn’t be made without you," the president said at the official White House event.

But while the crowd erupted into a "Let’s go Joe" chant, Biden did not make an overt case for his re-election bid.

This is because as president, Biden is supposed to walk a thin line between president and an incumbent presidential candidate for the Democrats.

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In what was billed as a White House event and not a campaign stop, Biden claimed that during his presidential tenure, creation of good-paying union jobs has been an administrative priority. The president sought to make the case that his administration is strengthening the economy for American families, even as still-high inflation continues to hammer Americans' budgets.

"Under my predecessor, Infrastructure Week became a punchline," Biden said.

"On my watch, infrastructure hasbecome a decade headline, a decade. And that's where you all come in. No, really. That's where you all come in. We havealready announced over 25,000 infrastructure projects in 4,500 towns across America. And we are just getting started, not even close. Union workers will build roads, bridges, lay internet cable, install 500,000 electric vehicle chargers throughout America. And union workers are going to transform America. And union workers will finish the job."

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On Tuesday morning, the president's campaign released a three-minute video with the president trying to make the case that he and fellow Democrats want to protect as many American freedoms as possible.

"When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America — and we still are," Mr. Biden said in the video. "The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer. I know what I want the answer to be. This is not a time to be complacent. That's why I'm running for reelection."

Biden has long voiced his support for unions, a key group in funding and backing his successful 2020 presidential election bid against former President Donald Trump. The line, "The middle class built America — and unions built the middle class," has been a frequent catchphrase in Biden's speeches.

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