Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Trump jabs Biden at V-J Day event
Press secretary had insisted visit to North Carolina was not for ‘political purpose.’
WILMINGTON, N.C. — As thunderstorms threatened, President Donald Trump sped through a V-J Day speech Wednesday, trumpeting American strength and managing to squeeze in a swipe at Democratic rival Joe Biden.
Trump stood before an iconic World War II-era battleship to declare the port city of Wilmington, North Carolina, a World War II “Heritage City.” He pointed to a bolt of lightning and said it was God saluting the event.
He honored war veterans, including 97-year-old Hershel “Woody” Williams, the sole surviving Marine from the war to receive the Medal of Honor. The West Virginia native fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima in the Pacific.
“He’s 100 percent sharp,” Trump said of Williams, who traveled to the key battleground state with the president aboard Air Force One.
“I know a 78-year-old who’s not so sharp,” Trump added, a clear allusion to Biden.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany had insisted earlier this week that there was no “political purpose” to Trump’s visit to North Carolina. But when the president landed in Wilmington, Trump lost no time in criticizing Biden.
“This is the most important election in the history of our country. I really believe that because we’re running against people that have got some big issues,” he told supporters on the airport tarmac. “They have got some big, big problems. They’re stone-cold crazy.”
Trump won North Carolina by 3.6 percentage points in 2016, but polls are showing an extremely close race taking shape in a state that generates 15 electoral votes for its winner.
The president’s visit to North Carolina comes as county boards start sending absentee ballots to voters Friday.