Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Biden visits Emmaus to tout record on small business
President Joe Biden on Friday tried his hand at retail politics — stopping in a trio of stores to stress the value of small businesses and talk up his economic record.
It was a distinct change from the set speeches that the Democratic president usually gives to highlight his policies about an economy with strong employment but levels of inflation that worry voters. Biden gladhanded and joshed at a running shoe store, bicycle shop and coffee house in Emmaus.
“My name is Joe Biden and I work for the government and the Senate,” the president said as he stepped into Nowhere Coffee and ordered what appeared to
be a mango smoothie. Obviously, the people in the coffee house knew who he was, with one of them joking, “This is a normal day.”
Sauntering along Main Street, Biden seemed to be in full campaign mode several months ahead of the November election, which
could rematch him against his 2020 opponent, former President Donald Trump.
Biden won the surrounding Lehigh County with 53.2% of the vote in 2020, helping him to secure a victory in Pennsylvania and the White House. It’s a state that he will likely need again this year to win reelection.
Biden’s pitch Friday was that he’s been better for small businesses than Trump, a billionaire, real estate magnate and reality television host who won the presidency in 2016 saying that he knows how to grow the economy.
At the Emmaus Run Inn, Biden stressed what he saw as a key difference. There have been 16 million applications to start new businesses during the first three years of his presidency, which he said is the highest number on record.
Joining Biden was Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, who said that Biden discussed with the shop owners the running habits of his wife, Jill, and the kinds of bikes that he enjoys riding.