Biden tears into Republicans, vowing to give them ‘hell’ in midterms

President Joe Biden on Tuesday defended his first two years in office and attacked a series of rivals for the country’s woos as he made his closing argument for Democrats with one week to go until the midterm election.

Biden reeled off a number of applause lines in his remarks, attacking Big Phrama, Big Oil, and MAGA Republicans.

‘I’m going to give them hell,’ the president said.

He slammed Republicans repeatedly, including some by name. He criticized Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, specifically, for taking federal money for her congressional district while attacking his administration.

‘Who the hell do they think they are?’ he said of the GOP.

He called out Kevin McCarthy, who would become speaker of the House if Republicans win control of that chamber on Nov. 8th. He repeated his claim the GOP wants to cut taxes for the wealthy and cut social programs.

And he slammed Florida’s Republican Sen. Rick Scott for his proposal to have Congress reauthorize Social Security and Medicare every five years.

Election forecasters predict the GOP will win the House next week. The Senate is seen as more up for grabs.

The president, who’s faced questions about why he hasn’t spent more time on the campaign trail held a traditional rally with a cheering crowd and marching band.

Biden was fired up for the event, talking loudly and pounding on the podium as he defended his tenure in office.

He attacked former President Donald Trump – although he did not mention his name – for not being able to pass an infrastructure bill like he did and for the economic situation the country was in when Biden entered the White House.

Biden defended his economic record, pointing to the tough situation the country was in when he took office. The country was still recovering from the lockdowns brought by the covid pandemic.

Voters say the economy is their top concern – and give Biden low marks for his stewardship of it.

‘When I took office the economy was in ruins,’ Biden said.

‘My Republican friends in Congress seem to be hoping for a recession,’ he argued.

Biden cited the increased number of jobs created under his tenure. He blamed inflation and high gas prices on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in the Ukraine.

He also attacked oil companies for their record profits.

‘The oil industry is not doing the right thing,’ he said. He renewed his push for the companies to face ‘windfall taxes’ on their profits.

He blasted Republican officials suing to stop his student debt forgiveness program, which would cancel up to $20,000 for some Americans.

‘They’re going to loose,’ he said.

Most of Biden’s campaign events have been small-scale or fundraisers. Tuesday’s rally was one of his biggest events it the past few months. The gym at Florida Memorial University was packed with Democrats.

Biden was joined by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist and Senate hopeful Val Demings.

Crist is trailing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is seeking a second term. And Deming is down against GOP Senator Marco Rubio in a contest that will help decide which party controls the Senate next year.

Biden pointed to Crist’s previous political service. He served as Republican governor of the state from 2007 to 2011 before he switche to the Democratic Party.

‘He was a great governor before and will be again – because of who he is replacing,’ the president said.

He referred to Demings’ former job – chief of Orlando police. Democrats are facing charges from Republicans that they are soft on crime, an issue voters say is one of their top concerns.

‘Cheif Val Demings, she is the real deal,’ Biden said.

Crist and Demings warmed up the crowd for the president.

‘We can DeSantis cold if we work like hell, if we sprint to the finishing line,’ Crist said to the cheering crowd.

‘Gov. DeSantis only cares about the White House, he doesn’t give a d*** about your house,’ he noted, referencing talk DeSantis will run for president in 2024.

Both Crist and Demings accused Republicans of wanting to walk back women’s reproductive rights – an attack line Democrats are hoping gets their voting base out to the polls.

‘Marco Rubio wants to take us back to a time when women were second class citizens,’ Demings said. ‘I’m not going.’

Biden went to Donald Trump’s homestate to kick off his last week of campaigning in the midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.

The president, who is battling low approval ratings, is spending his last week on the campaign trail trying to contrast how his Democrats will govern versus Republicans as voters prepare to head to the polls on Nov. 8.

He will make his closing argument at stops in New Mexico, California, Pennsylvania and Maryland over the next seven days.

He’s not the only Democrat hitting the campaign trail.

Jill Biden heads to Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Barack Obama, meanwhile, will be in Nevada on Tuesday for Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, who faces a tough re-election campaign and he heads to Arizona on Wednesday to campaign for Senator Mark Kelly.

Election forecasters see Republicans having a strong chance of winning control of the House of Representatives. The Senate is seen as more up for grabs.

Winning control of even one chamber of Congress would allow the GOP to stymie Biden’s legislative agenda for the next two years.

Trump himself is also hitting the campaign trail. He’s hold rallies in Ohio and Pennsylvania along with one in Miami on Sunday.

The former president will be offering a boost to Senator Rubio. DeSantis, meanwhile, is holding a separate event of his elsewhere in Florida on Sunday.

‘Charlie is running against Donald Trump incarnate,’ Biden said at a fundraiser for Crist ahead of the rally.

And, in a speech at a senior center, the president blasted Republicans for wanting to cut social programs and increase taxes for the wealthy – it’s a topic of interest to a state with a large population of retirees.

The President also took credit for cutting the federal deficit in half with his policies, even though most of the reduction came with the ending of COVID relief funding.

‘I’ve come to Florida today to talk about two very, very, very important programs,’ he said. ‘it’s gonna affect as many Americans as anything else.’

He described Social Security and Medicare as ‘under siege by our Republican friends.’

Biden finished his speech by saying he hoped that God ‘gives some of our Republican friends some enlightenment’ in a parting shot at GOP Senators including Rick Scott and Lindsey Graham.

Biden also caught himself when he talked about the high cost of living the war in Iraq has brought upon Americans but he quickly corrected himself to say he meant the war in Ukraine.

He said he was thinking of his son Beau who served in Iraq. Beau died in the US of aggressive brain cancer in 2015 which is believed to have been caused by his exposure to burn pits.

He also pointed out under his administration that for, the ‘first time can you see again an increase in their Social Security and Medicare’ – an announcement met with great applause.

‘So checks are going to be up. Medicare premiums are going to be down and look it’s a big deal for seniors,’ he said.

‘Let me say something. I want to point something out. They talk about big spending Democrats. Yeah, I spent a lot of money to do these things, but guess why,’ he said. ‘We cut the deficit in half,’ he said, lowering his voice to a whisper to make his point.

The president appeared visibly frustrated with the argument Republicans are making against his stewardship of the economy. Voters have said the economy and inflation are their top concerns – and they give Biden low marks on his handling of both issues.

‘Give me a break. I’m so sick and I shouldn’t get,’ Biden let his voice trail off as he paced on stage. But the crowd cheered and encouraged him on.

‘As my granddaughter’s used to say, Google, I’m serious,’ the president told the crowd.

Biden has been hitting Republicans repeatedly for wanting to change the two large government social programs.

The president repeatedly has made Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott’s policy proposals a boogeyman in the election, calling out the senator by name in his criticism of the GOP.

He did so again in Florida on Tuesday. He held up a pamphlet and read aloud Scott’s plan that would put Medicare, Social Security and other government programs up for a vote every five years.

‘A senator from Florida going after Social Security and Medicaid?,’ he said. ‘You might even you might not even believe it. Again, word for word. All federal legislation, sunsets means goes away in five years.’

‘These programs do something so basic and so important,’ Biden said of them.

Biden started his remarks by talking about all the assistance his administration has offered the state as it recovers from Hurricane Ian. He said the federal government approved $1.7 billion in federal grants, which led to whoops, applause and cheers from the audience.

Ahead of his trip, Biden boarded Air Force One with a copy of Jon Meacham’s new book ‘And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle’.

The biography looks into how Lincoln prioritized his policies and ending slavery over his own future before the 1864 election and during the Civil War.

Lincoln’s Republican party also performed poorly during the 1862 midterm elections, with the Democrats gaining several seats and ending their majority.

Polls suggest Biden could be facing a similar fate with the 2022 midterms with polls suggesting Republicans will decisively take control of the House and have a path to winning a majority in the Senate.

‘Lincoln was a politician, but he was a politician who ultimately was driven by conscience,’ Meacham told NPR. ‘This is my entire argument in the book. If he had solely been a cynical political creature, he would have made radically different decisions at critical points.’

Florida has become an increasingly difficult state for Democrats to win. Trump carried it in 2016 and 2020.

DeSantis capitalized on anti-covid sentiments to push back against shut down restrictions and signed legislation against vaccine mandates.

Biden is looking to drive up voter turn out but is staying away from most of the battleground states.

The president hasn’t been to Arizona, Nevada or Georgia – three states that helped put in the White House – nor is he expected to.  All three states have closely-contested Senate races.

The president will join Barack Obama in Philadelphia on Saturday to campaign for gubernatorial candidate Josh Shaprio and Senate contender John Fetterman.

With the Senate currently sitting at 50-50 – and Vice President Kamala Harris providing the tie breaking vote – any race could decide which party is in the majority next  year.