Joe Biden (file photo)
Former Vice President Joe Biden started a campaign swing through eastern Iowa today, offering a critique of President Trump’s trade policies.
“He’s great at the ‘Art of the Deal’ isn’t he?” Biden asked rhetorically, mentioning the title of one of Trump’s books. “Every farmer who thinks they’re better off, raise your hand.”
Biden, who will visit a Dyersville ethanol plant, spoke early this afternoon to a crowd at the Jackson County fairgrounds in Maquoketa. Biden roamed through the audience, taking questions.
“One of the main reasons I support you is you’re the one candidate that’s not afraid to say the word union,” a man in the crowd said when Biden handed him the microphone. “…I was wondering what you would be able to do as president to help the resurgence of union.”
Biden suggested skeptics of the labor movement are starting to understand unions ensure companies fulfill obligations to workers.
“Corporate America spent a billion dollars last year hiring people to break unions from being able to get started in the first place,” Biden said.
Biden told the crowd in Maquoketa he wants a $50,000 fine assessed to any company CEO who threatens employees trying to form a union. Biden is scheduled to speak at a town hall on the Loras College campus in Dubuque this evening. California Senator Kamala Harris is also campaigning in the state today.