On Labor Day, when most Americans have the day off, President Biden spoke at a Pennsylvania rally which was open to members of the local United Steelworkers of America Local Union, but the turnout didn’t exactly reach record numbers.
The meeting was held outside the United Steelworkers of America Local Union 2227 hall in West Mifflin. Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
“While some professional photos from the event concealed just how sparse the crowd was, others showed the paltry number of people who showed up to hear the president’s words,” The Daily Mail reported, noting that the “miniscule” crowd “could be described as being in the dozens.”
MASSIVE crowd for Joe Biden in Pennsylvania today! 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/VGd4mjV9KR
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 6, 2022
If Biden loses union support in the state in which he was born, he may well lose the state in 2024 if he runs again, as he won the state by a scant 80,000 votes in 2020.
In 2020, roughly 12% of Pennsylvania’s workers belonged to a union. United Steelworkers endorsed Biden that year. When Biden launched his presidential campaign in 2019, he claimed, “I’m a union man, period.”
In mid-October 2020, The Wall Street Journal noted, “Since June, Mr. Biden has visited Pennsylvania 13 times, five of which have been focused on union issues. … The campaign is targeting union-heavy ZIP Codes in Pennsylvania with Facebook and YouTube ads touting Mr. Biden’s union endorsements.”
Days after Biden was elected in 2020, he promised that “unions are going to have increased power” in his administration, enthusing, “I want you to know I’m a union guy that’s not anti-business.”
Meanwhile, many iron workers in south-central Pennsylvania have no patience for President Biden’s $500 billion student loan giveaway, and they spoke out against what they feel is the unfairness of the plan.
Various workers at the Donsco, Inc. iron foundry aired their grievances to Fox News about Biden’s intention to cancel $10,000 of borrowers’ student loans if they make less than $125,000 annually while Pell Grant recipients in the same boat will receive $20,000.
“It’s not going to affect the people that are here, the people that are actually out doing all the work,” said supervisor Jim Davis. “He said he’s going to help the people in the bigger cities because that’s what [he] wants.”
“A lot of those families are rich,” snapped cancer survivor Francisco Hernández, who says he returned to work after retiring because of the inflation that has surged under Biden. “They have the money to pay it off, so they get a break and they get to sit on their couch and their kids are stuck with a degree they can’t even use.”
“The sad part is the rich aren’t going to pay for this, we are,” he continued. “Everything is a gift, but that goes on the back of our debt and the taxpayers are the ones who have to cover it.”
“I think it’s a bad idea,” echoed Iron worker Tony Bell. “Donsco is always hiring people, these college kids can always come here on their time off and work and pay their debt back.”
Related: ‘Why Should I Pay For Somebody Else’s College’: PA Iron Workers Slam Biden’s Student Loan Plan