Kenneth Glad
The former president used a party gathering to criticize Trump’s record in office. The remarks gave Democrats a sharper line of attack before November’s congressional races.
Joe Biden used a Democratic Party gala to deliver a pointed attack on Donald Trump, arguing that the president’s behavior in office should be judged as Democrats prepare for the 2026 midterm elections.
The Hanover, Maryland, event brought party activists together before races that could decide control of Congress.
For Democrats, those elections are a chance to limit Trump’s power during the rest of his second term, writes The Guardian.
Maryland audience hears a blunt warning
Speaking before supporters at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland, the former US president criticized projects and proposals connected to Trump’s changes in Washington DC.
Biden referred to the White House East Wing, the Kennedy Center, a planned triumphal arch and the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.
Rather than treating those projects as isolated disputes, Biden presented them as signs of how Trump uses power.
“Whoa!” Biden said. “What a loser.”
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He also pointed to Trump’s pardons for people convicted over the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, according to The Guardian. That gives Democrats a direct campaign argument: Trump rewards political loyalty even when it is tied to violence at the Capitol.
The reflecting pool project became Biden’s clearest example of alleged corruption as a no-bid filtration contract went to a Trump donor connected to Mar-a-Lago.
“It’s the corruption – the corruption, the brazen, blatant corruption,” Biden said. “Corruption on a scale never seen before in American history in any administration.”
Ukraine and Nato become part of the attack
Later, the speech moved from Washington projects to foreign policy. Biden criticized Trump’s approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the war in Ukraine, and Nato, arguing that the president had damaged relationships with allies.
“He’s diminished our standing in the world more than any president in history has,” Biden said.
The moment came two years after Biden’s poor 2024 debate performance against Trump, which preceded his withdrawal from the presidential race. Trump later defeated Kamala Harris, Biden’s chosen successor.
Sources: The Guardian
